New research directions and enhanced potential at the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory

The Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, NOAA's National Undersea Research Center for Hawaii and the Western Pacific (HURL/NURC-HWP) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, has been in the process of upgrading its deep submergence system to better address the marine research challenges of the twenty-first century. The recent acquisition of Pisces IV, as a safety backup, will allow a greater range of dive targets to be selected, moving further from Hawaii into the Western Pacific and coral reefs of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Substantial upgrades have also taken place on the ROV system, the Pisces V scientific sampling package and the power and propulsion system on the mothership R/V Kaimikai-o-Kanaloa. The number of research submersibles worldwide operating at 2,000 m and below is on the order of 10, including HURL's two Pisces subs. The number of easily transportable systems able to rescue these vehicles is also very small. For this reason, it was the recommendation of the International Submersible Safety Symposium that each of the deep submergence operating groups be able to provide its own rescue capability. HURL has just accomplished this with the addition of Pisces IV.