Over the past few years, headlines have been made about the discovery of ships that had been long lost at sea. Titanic, Bismarck, Yorktown, and others have been featured in several magazines. But the research and adventure that led to these discoveries continue today. The Family First Site that we visit today shows one such journey and the benefits that it yields.

Called Dive and Discover: Expeditions to the Seafloor, this site is an online journal of a trip to explore the Eastern Pacific Ocean. This 47-day voyage, under the guidance of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, is the third study of underwater volcanic activity in this area, the greatest mountain range on the planet. Here you can follow the day-to-day activities of this trip, as well as share in the discoveries as they happen. Along the way you will learn about some of the basics about how our planet is formed, and how it is changing all the time.

[Continue reading Dive and Discover: Expeditions to the Seafloor]

This spring, join Expedition 8 of Dive and Discover as researchers diving in the submersible Alvin explore hydrothermal vents off the Pacific Northwest coast. During the 17-day expedition to the Juan de Fuca Ridge, 200 miles west of Washington state, scientists and engineers will deploy new ocean instruments and gather samples of fluids and organisms from the vents to learn how microbes live in this high-pressure, super-heated environment.