Deo Florence Onda | |
---|---|
Born | |
Citizenship | Filipino |
Education | Université Laval |
Known for | First Filipino to descent to Emden Deep; among the first two people to do so (with Victor Vescovo) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Microbial oceanography |
Institutions | University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute |
Deo Florence L. Onda is a Filipino microbial oceanographer. He is known for being the first Filipino to descend into the Emden Deep in the Philippine Trench.
Deo Florence Onda was born in Brooke's Point, Palawan. [1] Onda obtained his Interuniversity PhD in Oceanography from the Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada. He also had a post-doctoral fellowship at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany. [2]
Onda is an associate professor at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP MSI); the youngest faculty member of the institution as of March 2021. [3]
Onda was the chief scientist of the Protect WPS (Predicting Responses between Ocean Transport and Ecological Connectivity of Threatened ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea) expedition group which conducted research in the Spratly Islands in 2019. The expedition noted "relatively unhealthy" conditions of reefs in Thitu Island and the Sabina Shoal. The research also noted new sightings of seaweed species previously unrecorded in the area and also collected six crates of trash from the sea. [4] [5] The expedition used the RV Kasarinlan, a research marine vessel owned by UP MSI. [3]
Victor Vescovo's Caladan Oceanic initiated an expedition to the Emden Deep, the deepest point in the Philippine Trench and third deepest in the world. Deo Florence Onda was invited to join Vescovo in the expedition's descent to the Emden Deep which would make Onda, the first Filipino to make a descent to the deep. The expedition started off in Guam on March 15, with Vescovo and Onda on board the DSSV Pressure Drop where they would be deployed in a separate submersible vehicle, the DSV Limiting Factor. [6] Onda agreed to take part in the expedition to " assert the sovereign rights" of the Philippines over the underwater feature. [7] The descent took place on March 23. At Emden Deep, Onda waved the Philippine flag. [8]
The Challenger Deep is the deepest known point of the seabed of Earth, with a depth of 10,902–10,929 m (35,768–35,856 ft) by direct measurement from deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles and benthic landers, and (sometimes) slightly more by sonar bathymetry.
The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about 2,550 km (1,580 mi) in length and 69 km (43 mi) in width. The maximum known depth is 10,984 ± 25 metres at the southern end of a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep. If Mount Everest were placed into the trench at this point, its peak would still be underwater by more than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).
Don Walsh is an American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste when it made a record maximum descent into the Challenger Deep on January 23, 1960, the deepest point of the world's oceans. The depth was measured at 35,813 feet (10,916 m), but later and more accurate measurements have measured it at 35,798 feet (10,911 m).
Milwaukee Deep, also known as the Milwaukee Depth, is part of the Puerto Rico Trench. Together with the surrounding area, known as Brownson Deep, the Milwaukee Deep forms an elongated depression that constitutes the floor of the trench. As there is no geomorphological distinction between the two, it has been proposed that the use of both names to refer to distinct areas should be reviewed.
A deep-submergence vehicle (DSV) is a deep-diving crewed submersible that is self-propelled. Several navies operate vehicles that can be accurately described as DSVs. DSVs are commonly divided into two types: research DSVs, which are used for exploration and surveying, and DSRVs, which are intended to be used for rescuing the crew of a sunken navy submarine, clandestine (espionage) missions, or both. DSRVs are equipped with docking chambers to allow personnel ingress and egress via a manhole.
The Sunda Trench, earlier known as and sometimes still indicated as the Java Trench, is an oceanic trench located in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra, formed where the Australian-Capricorn plates subduct under a part of the Eurasian Plate. It is 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) long with a maximum depth of 7,290 metres. Its maximum depth is the deepest point in the Indian Ocean. The trench stretches from the Lesser Sunda Islands past Java, around the southern coast of Sumatra on to the Andaman Islands, and forms the boundary between Indo-Australian Plate and Eurasian plate. The trench is considered to be part of the Pacific Ring of Fire as well as one of a ring of oceanic trenches around the northern edges of the Australian Plate.
The Tubbataha Natural Park, also known as the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, is a protected area of the Philippines located in the middle of the Sulu Sea. The marine and bird sanctuary consists of two huge atolls and the smaller Jessie Beazley Reef covering a total area of 97,030 hectares. It is located 150 kilometres (93 mi) southeast of Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan. The uninhabited islands and reefs are part of the island municipality of Cagayancillo, located roughly 130 kilometers (81 mi) to the northeast of the reef.
USNS Indomitable (T-AGOS-7) was a United States Navy Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship in service from 1985 to 2002. From 2003 until 18 June 2014, she was in commission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the oceanographic research ship NOAAS McArthur II. As of 2018 it serves as a mother ship now named the Deep Submersible Support Vessel (DSSV) Pressure Drop for the crewed deep-ocean research submersible DSV Limiting Factor.
William C. "Bill" Stone is an American engineer, caver and explorer, known for exploring deep caves, sometimes with autonomous underwater vehicles. He has participated in over 40 international expeditions and is president and CEO of Stone Aerospace.
Deep-sea exploration is the investigation of physical, chemical, and biological conditions on the ocean waters and sea bed beyond the continental shelf, for scientific or commercial purposes. Deep-sea exploration is an aspect of underwater exploration and is considered a relatively recent human activity compared to the other areas of geophysical research, as the deeper depths of the sea have been investigated only during comparatively recent years. The ocean depths still remain a largely unexplored part of the Earth, and form a relatively undiscovered domain.
The Molloy Deep is a bathymetric feature in the Fram Strait, within the Greenland Sea east of Greenland and about 160 km west of Svalbard. It is the location of the deepest point in the Arctic Ocean. The Molloy Deep, Molloy Hole, Molloy Fracture Zone, and Molloy Ridge were named after Arthur E. Molloy, a U.S. Navy research scientist who worked in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic Oceans in the 1950s-1970s.
The Emden Deep, also known as the Galathea Deep or Galathea Depth, is the portion of the 10,540-metre-deep (34,580 ft) Philippine Trench exceeding 6,000-metre (20,000 ft) depths in the south-western Pacific Ocean.
The Sirena Deep, originally named the HMRG Deep, was discovered in 1997 by a team of scientists from Hawaii. Its directly measured depth of 10,714 m (35,151 ft) is third only to the Challenger Deep and Horizon Deep, currently the deepest known directly measured places in the ocean. It lies along the Mariana Trench, 200 kilometers to the east of the Challenger Deep and 145 km south of Guam.
Calypso Deep, located in the Hellenic Trench, Ionian Sea 62.6 km south-west of Pylos, Greece, is the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea, with a maximum depth of 5,267 m (17,280 ft), at 36°34′N21°8′E.
Deepsea Challenger is a 7.3-metre (24 ft) deep-diving submersible designed to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest-known point on Earth. On 26 March 2012, Canadian film director James Cameron piloted the craft to accomplish this goal in the second crewed dive reaching the Challenger Deep. Built in Sydney, Australia, by the research and design company Acheron Project Pty Ltd, Deepsea Challenger includes scientific sampling equipment and high-definition 3-D cameras; it reached the ocean's deepest point after two hours and 36 minutes of descent from the surface.
Victor Lance Vescovo is an American private equity investor, retired naval officer, space tourist and undersea explorer. He is a co-founder and managing partner of private equity company Insight Equity Holdings. Vescovo achieved the Explorers Grand Slam by reaching the North and South Poles and climbing the Seven Summits, and he then visited the deepest points of all Earth's five oceans during the Five Deeps Expedition of 2018–2019.
Triton Submarines is a Florida-based company that designs and manufactures private submersibles for research, filming, deep-ocean exploration, and the luxury yachting and tourism sector. It was founded in 2007.
Alan J. Jamieson is a Scottish marine biologist, engineer, explorer and author, best known for his deep-sea exploration and study of life at the deepest places in the oceans. He is known for extensive use of deep-sea landers to establish the maximum depth and community dynamics of many organismal groups, as well as the discovery of many new species and highlighting the presence of anthropogenic impacts at full ocean depth. During the Five Deeps Expedition, and follow on expeditions in 2020, he completed various dives in a manned submersible to some of the deepest places in the world. He has published over 100 scientific papers and participated in 65 deep-sea expeditions.
Limiting Factor is a crewed deep-submergence vehicle (DSV) manufactured by Triton Submarines and owned and operated by Gabe Newell’s Inkfish ocean-exploration research organisation. It currently holds the records for the deepest crewed dives in all five oceans. Limiting Factor was commissioned by Victor Vescovo for $37 million. It is commercially certified by DNV for dives to full ocean depth, and is operated by a pilot, with facilities for an observer.