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- [Narrator] When we think of the ocean,
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we think of the beach.
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But I'm speaking to one of a handful of people
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who have been to the deepest depths of our oceans.
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(phone rings)
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- [Bruce] My name is Bruce Strickrott,
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and I am currently the senior pilot
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and manager of Alvin Operations Group
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at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
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- [Narrator] Phew.
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He pilots a submarine called Alvin,
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and he works with scientists to explore
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deep ocean life and terrain.
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- [Bruce] Yeah, our average depth on most dives
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is between 2,500 and 3,000 meters.
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- [Narrator] That's almost two vertical miles.
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This is what it feels like
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to go 10,000 feet below the water's surface.
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- [Bruce] We dive, often, down near the equator,
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so it's bright and sunny.
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It's early morning, it's nice.
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You'll dive in the water and you hit a color of turquoise
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that I have never been able to see anywhere else.
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- [Narrator] But that blue doesn't last long.
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- [Bruce] It's easy to lose light
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within five to ten minutes, easy.
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- [Narrator] And you're left suspended
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in seemingly black water.
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- [Bruce] The sub spins the whole way down
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and the whole way up, but you don't even notice.
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The only way you can tell is,
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you can look at the compass and see it's turning around.
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- [Narrator] Within that darkness, small flashes emerge.
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These are from animals who live at these extreme depths.
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- [Bruce] You hit lots of bioluminescence.
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The amount that you can see outside is astounding.
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- [Narrator] And then you hit the bottom.
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- [Bruce] When you get to the site
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that you're headed to and you turn the lights on,
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there's a huge wow factor there.
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- [Narrator] In particular, areas with geothermal vents
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or these underwater geysers, massive structures
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that rise thousands of feet up towards the surface.
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- [Bruce] The view out the front
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is astounding because there's nothing like it
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anywhere else on the planet, nothing.
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Our perspective is altered by our experience
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because you can't go and look at the ocean anymore
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and think of it just as this endless, flat surface of water.
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You have an understanding of what's underneath it.
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(inspiring music)