Science

UNDER THE SEA

A one-of-a-kind robot submersible called Sentry this month completed its first scientific mission, surveying more than 20 square miles of mountainous volcanic sea floor off the coast of Washington and Oregon. Sentry, built by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, is capable of diving three miles deep and navigates the depths independently, without any connection to the surface. Working with researchers from the University of Washington, the craft surveyed several sites for future sea-floor sensors in a project largely funded by the National Science Foundation.