In 1986 it got up close to the Titanic, and now deep-sea explorer Alvin is achieving more world firsts, this time documenting 1.2 miles of new reef featuring live coral that's thousands of years old.

Title photo wallpaper from Wallpaperhi (1600x1200). Melanie Pinola. Read Melanie's full bio. More by Melanie. ... You don't have to be a deep sea diver to enjoy them from the comfort of your de.

The octopus could be seen floating into view of the team’s ROV Atalanta’s camera as it hovered about 5,518 feet (1,682 meters) deep below sea level in an unnamed seamount in the PMNM area.

But observing change in the deep sea is really challenging and, until now, we have had a poor understanding of what background conditions are like in the deep-sea." ...