A mission across disciplines and continents Expedition log by Graduate Fellow Javiera Fuentes GuíñezOur collaborators from NKUA have done extensive work to map the geology of Milos and the surrounding seafloor. MBARI’s MOLA AUV will expand those efforts into deeper waters in Paleochori Bay, Spathi Bay, and the northwest portion of Milos Bay. Image courtesy of Paraskevi Nomikou/NKUABeneath the warm waters that attract swimmers to the Greek island of Milos every summer, the seafloor is alive in a unique way. Gas bubbles rise from underwater vents and faults that cross the island, but scientists still don’t know much about seafloor processes in deeper waters, a crucial missing piece of the puzzle. For the next 10 days, the CoMPAS Lab team, our partners in MBARI’s Seafloor Processes Team, and our collaborators from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) are headed to Milos to change that.Interdisciplinary work is embedded at the heart of MBARI’s mission. We believe that scientists and engineers working side by side are the key to advancing our understanding of a vast and changing ocean. So when NKUA Professor Paraskevi (Evi) Nomikou proposed a new collaboration with MBARI Principal Engineer Giancarlo Troni to use our lab’s MOLA AUV to help close a mapping gap around Milos, the CoMPAS Lab didn’t hesitate. The team immediately began preparing MOLA AUV for the mission ahead. Why Milos?Evi has extensive experience studying the marine environment of Greece’s active submarine volcanic arc, which includes Milos. Here, active tectonic faults and numerous underwater vents make the island a fascinating natural laboratory—and one where science has a real impact on people. Earthquakes can trigger landslides and damage homes, putting residents and tourists at risk. During these seismic events, gases may escape from the vents more violently, making the island and its surroundings even more unstable. That’s why mapping and studying this area, and sharing what we learn with local authorities, matters not only for science, but also for the community that calls Milos home and depends on lucrative summer tourism. The mapping gapIn previous studies, Evi and her students dove in coastal waters to map vents from the shoreline down to about 30 meters (100 feet), while the research vessel Meteor deployed instruments to characterize vents below 80 meters (about 260 feet). But between 30 and 80 meters, the seafloor remains a mystery. It’s too deep for divers to survey and too shallow for large research vessels with bulky remotely operated vehicles to operate. When Evi watched the CoMPAS Lab team deploy the MOLA AUV in the Maldives two years ago, she knew right away it was the perfect tool for the job. The game planThe CoMPAS Lab’s mission is to develop scalable robotic technology that can be shared with our peers to advance ocean exploration and science. Milos is the perfect challenge for the MOLA AUV. This little robot is deceptively powerful, equipped with advanced sensors developed by our lab, including forward-looking sonar, cameras, lasers, and AI-assisted tools. It’s portable enough to launch and recover straight from the beach or a small boat, and then the MOLA AUV can get to work characterizing vent fields. That’s how our international and multidisciplinary team came together, drawn by a complex, active, and understudied environment that matters deeply to the people who live around it. Over the next 10 days, we’ll work to close this gap in knowledge, one dive at a time. Follow @compaslab on Instagram to discover Milos with us! Team Directory Javiera Fuentes Guíñez Graduate Fellow CollaboratorsTK Share Like this? Share it! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Email