Robot Sub Explores Giant Canyon

What willthey think of next? Scientists have begun the first detailed exploration of a vast underwater valley the size of the Grand Canyon. This is just off the coast of Portugal and it has yielded a series of surprises. They are using Britain's ISIS robot submarine. It is van sized. It's high-technology has allowed researchers to view, for the first time, previously hidden features up to three miles deep in the Nazare Canyon. On the sides of the canyon, beneath the overhanging edges of the giant cliffs, they saw cold water corals clinging to the rock. These are a highly active part of the ecosystem, well below the limits of the sunshine. At 12,000 feet deep, they saw the shape of a shark. This was amazing to them also as usually sharks are never found deeper than 1,000 ft. They are going to explore many more places such as this. As one professor put it, less than 5% of the world's sea bed has been surveyed with modern technology, so this is just a start. This is very interesting to me as I have always loved underwater sea shows on television and in movies.