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From the deep ocean to shallow, coastal ecosystems, our real-world discoveries depend on a diverse suite of technologies, such as submersibles, drones, genomic sequencers, and autonomous vehicles. Each tool unlocks a different layer and characteristic of the sea, providing holistic data sets our team relies on to unlock the ocean’s sustainable potential.
Among the most versatile are the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) named Chimaera, and the Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), the Otter. They rarely operate side by side, yet both extend the reach of OceanX science: Chimaera explores the deep, dark frontiers of the ocean floor, while the Otter maps the shallow coastal habitats where the ocean meets the land. Together, they help scientists see the ocean as one vast, essential interconnected system.
From the ROV hangar aboard the OceanXplorer, Chimaera is lowered into the sea like a spacecraft descending into another world. Rated to depth of 6,000 meters, it can reach 95% of the ocean floor. Pilots aboard the ship control the ROV it through a fiber-optic tether, guiding its movements while receiving real-time HD video and sensor data from the water column and seafloor.
Built for precision, Chimaera has robotic hydraulic arms, and carries sediment corers, suction samplers, and low-light cameras that capture life in complete darkness. Its thrusters and hydraulics allow for delicate maneuvers, turning a robotic claw into a surgeon’s hand when collecting fragile coral fragments or thin microbial layers that grow across the ocean floor. Onboard sensors continuously measure temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, and oxygen, creating a detailed profile of the deep ocean environment.
Across OceanX expeditions, Chimaera is the workhorse of discovery. During the Red Sea Decade Expedition, it uncovered a brine pool more than a mile down — a dense, super-salty lake devoid of oxygen, where microbes survive in conditions once thought impossible. Samples collected there are now helping scientists study how life might exist beyond Earth.
In the Seychelles, Chimaera captured the first-ever footage of a rare aggregation of Dumbo octopuses, offering new insight into deep-sea cephalopod behavior. In the Azores, it helped characterize unexplored seamounts now incorporated into regional marine protected networks. Off Sumatra during the 2024 Indonesia mission, Chimaera collected geological cores from the Sunda Megathrust Zone, the area where the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake occurred. These samples provide crucial data on the seismic forces that shape our planet and help scientists develop better earthquake and tsunami warning systems.
The Otter conducts its work in the shallows of the sea. This two-meter Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), launched from the OceanXplorer’s sub hangar, explores zones that are too shallow, hazardous, or sensitive for human divers or research ships.
Powered by twin electric motors, the Otter can be piloted remotely or programmed for autonomous missions lasting up to 28 hours. Its payload includes high-resolution multibeam sonar, LiDAR, 360° cameras, and hyperspectral sensors that analyze light reflected from coral, vegetation, and sediment — capturing environmental detail without disrupting wildlife.
During Mission Seychelles 2024, OceanX visited Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the lagoon’s shallow winding channels made crewed navigation impossible. The Otter was one of the only vehicles capable of surveying the interior, producing the first detailed bathymetric maps for portions of the main and eastern channels ever recorded there. These datasets, now used by the Seychelles Islands Foundation and Ministry of Environment, are shaping protection plans for one of the planet’s most pristine ecosystems.
Lightweight, quiet, and fully electric, the Otter is redefining how scientists study nearshore environments, such as the mangroves, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and tidal zones that buffer coastlines and sustain marine life.
While the Otter and Chimaera are rarely used on the same expedition, together they represent the range of OceanX’s scientific reach.
“There’s still so much we don’t know about our own planet,” says Mattie Rodrigue, OceanX Science Program Director. “The only way we’ll understand how the ocean is changing is by collecting more and better data. Autonomy will be essential to that future.”
By combining human expertise with robotic precision, OceanX is scaling exploration safely, sustainably, and with unprecedented resolution. Whether navigating ancient trenches or tracing the contours of a seagrass meadow, Chimaera and the Otter help us better understand, and protect, the ocean systems that sustain us.
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