Between dives the NeMO Net digital camera was deployed from the ship. During dive 552 ROPOS located the camera on the bottom, separated it from its drop anchor, and then carried it to the Bag City vent area where it was positioned in front of a large tube worm bush. A temperature probe was also placed within the tube worm bush. The camera will periodically take pictures of this vent community and record the vent temperature during the next year. These data will be sent daily up to a surface buoy (that we will deploy after the dive tomorrow) via an acoustic modem. The buoy will then send the data to shore via satellite.

This year's NeMO Net system is more advanced from last year's system in that it will be capable of 2-way communication; we will be able to send it commands from shore, as well as receiving data from the seafloor. This state-of-the-art technology is a prototype for future communication systems to and from the seafloor that we hope will eventually include an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Having an AUV stationed at Axial will allow an almost instantaneous response to seismic or volcanic events detected remotely. ROPOS dive 552 also will include additional biological sampling and geologic mapping of the southern part of the 1998 lava flow.