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The Rooms Exhibits Live Streaming Video from the ROPOS Hudson 2010 Expedition

Today, and up until July 22, The Rooms will be featuring live streaming video from the ROPOS Hudson 2010 Expedition as part of the Want to See the Bottom of the Sea exhibition.

The ROPOS Hudson 2010 Expedition features the Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences (ROPOS), a piece of cutting edge technology that places scientists on the leading edge of ocean exploration. On this expedition, operators on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Hudson use ROPOS to dive up to 3,000 meters into ocean trenches and mountains to collect high definition data and rare specimens, principally coral in the case of this mission.

A live streaming video feed from the Hudson will be on view at The Rooms allowing the public to be a part of the expedition as the ship's crew collects data on the rare coral specimens and their deep water habitats, showing viewers where they grow, as well as why and how they interact with other creatures on the seabed.

Unknown to many people, there are numerous kinds of corals in the deep waters around Newfoundland and Labrador. Most are colonies of tiny animals attached to the sea floor, many of which have been found to display different colours, shapes and sizes — some as delicate as ferns, others as big as trees. Like trees, corals are home to other marine life and scientists are just starting to understand their vital role in the ocean ecosystem. This study is also important due to the fact that deep-sea corals grow very slowly and cannot move out of harm's way; therefore, they are highly sensitive to human activities such as fishing and petroleum exploration and production. This expedition will help identify the most important marine areas in need of protection.

"The Rooms live video and companion exhibition is one of only three places in Canada where a live feed will be available to the public during various stages of the mission", commented Anne Chafe, Director of The Rooms Provincial Museum Division. "We're very excited to be able to take the science on the seabed from ship to shore, and then right here to The Rooms."

The ROPOS Ocean Exploration Mission is a partnership between Memorial University's departments' of Geography and Physics and Physical Oceanography and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador and Maritime). ROPOS is owned and operated by the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF) and rented by scientists all over the world.

Live video will be broadcast via the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility (CSSF) Ship-to- Shore Satellite System on July 12 through 26. Dates and times could change due to weather and other unforeseen issues arising during the mission. The ROPOS Hudson 2010 Expedition Blog Web site can be found at: //hudson0292010.blogspot.com/. The ROPOS Hudson 2010 Expedition Twitter site can be found at: //twitter.com/Hudson0292010. 

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2010 07 09                                                   1:25 p.m.