Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Scientists explored the deep ocean near Brazil. They found 31 new kinds of animals that no one had ever seen before.
The scientists used a robot submarine called SuBastian. It can go very deep into the ocean, far below where people can swim.
One of the new animals is a strange jellyfish. It looks like it is wearing a helmet, and it has four stiff arms called tentacles.
A scientist named Dr. Karen Osborn led the team. They worked for only two weeks and still found so many new species.
- ocean
- a very large area of salt water covering much of the Earth
- deep
- going far down from the top or surface
- robot
- a machine that can do tasks, sometimes controlled by people from far away
- submarine
- a vehicle that can travel underwater
- jellyfish
- a soft sea animal with a rounded body and long, trailing parts
- helmet
- a hard covering worn to protect the head
- tentacle
- a long, flexible arm-like part on an animal, used to feel or grab things
- team
- a group of people working together on the same task
Level 2 — Elementary
An international team of scientists has discovered 31 new deep-sea species during a two-week expedition off the coast of Brazil in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean.
The researchers explored the ocean's little-known 'midwater' zone using the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian, launched from the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too).
Among the most striking discoveries was a helmet-shaped jellyfish from the genus Bathykorus, which trails four stiff tentacles and lives so deep that it had previously only ever been seen by robotic vehicles.
The expedition was led by Dr. Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who called the pace of discovery remarkable given the trip's short two-week timeframe.
- expedition
- a journey undertaken for a specific purpose, such as exploration or research
- tropical
- relating to the warm regions of the Earth near the equator
- midwater
- the zone of the ocean between the surface and the deep seafloor
- remotely operated vehicle
- a machine controlled from a distance, often used to explore places humans cannot easily reach
- launch
- to send something out or start something, such as a vehicle into the water
- genus
- a scientific grouping of closely related species
- trail
- to drag or hang loosely behind something as it moves
- pace
- the speed at which something happens or progresses
Level 3 — Intermediate
An international team of midwater specialists has confirmed 31 previously undescribed deep-sea species during a two-week expedition in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil.
Operating from the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too), the team deployed the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian to survey the ocean's midwater zone, a poorly studied region between the sunlit surface and the deep seafloor.
Among the expedition's most striking finds was a helmet-shaped jellyfish belonging to the genus Bathykorus, an animal that trails four stiff tentacles and inhabits depths so extreme that it had previously been observed only by robotic vehicles rather than human divers.
Led by Dr. Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the researchers relied on advanced imaging instruments, including tools developed by a marine bioinspiration laboratory, to document the fragile creatures in three dimensions without physically damaging them.
- specialist
- a person with detailed knowledge or skill in a particular field
- undescribed
- not yet formally identified or recorded by science
- deploy
- to send out or put into use for a specific purpose
- survey
- to examine or map an area systematically
- inhabit
- to live in or occupy a particular place
- extreme
- very great in degree; far beyond the usual
- document
- to record details of something in a systematic way
- bioinspiration
- the practice of designing technology based on ideas found in nature
Level 4 — Advanced
An international cohort of midwater specialists has confirmed 31 previously undescribed deep-sea species during a two-week expedition through the tropical South Atlantic Ocean off Brazil's coast, underscoring how much of the ocean's interior remains scientifically uncharted.
Operating from the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too), the team deployed the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian to systematically survey the midwater zone, a vast, dimly lit region situated between the sunlit surface and the abyssal seafloor that has historically eluded sustained scientific scrutiny.
Among the expedition's most arresting finds was a helmet-shaped jellyfish of the genus Bathykorus, an organism that trails four rigid tentacles and inhabits depths so extreme that it had, until now, been documented exclusively through robotic observation rather than direct human encounter.
Led by Dr. Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the researchers drew on sophisticated imaging instrumentation, including devices developed by a marine bioinspiration laboratory, to characterize these gelatinous, structurally fragile organisms in three dimensions while minimizing physical disturbance.
- cohort
- a group of people involved together in a particular activity
- uncharted
- not mapped or explored; unknown
- abyssal
- relating to the deepest parts of the ocean
- elude
- to escape from or avoid, especially by skill or cunning
- arresting
- strikingly impressive or attention-grabbing
- rigid
- stiff and not easily bent
- gelatinous
- having a thick, jelly-like consistency
- disturbance
- an interruption of a settled state, often causing damage or disorder
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