Expedition 15 Videos: Jason Elevator

This clip offers a rare view of samples leaving the ocean floor on an elevator. This one carries with it two white plastic “bioboxes,” which hold fresh samples of tubeworms and mussels collected by Jason. On the left side of the elevator, you’ll also see a plastic milk crate full of basalt samples (lava rocks from the ocean floor), and in the background, the grey pressure cylinders of Jeff Seewald’s IGT samplers. Watch as Jason releases the weights that hold the elevator down, letting it rise gently toward the surface. (To learn more about elevators, check out our dispatch from January 5.)