The crew of the scientific research ship Tansuo-1, celebrates on Saturday after China's new deep-sea manned submersible Fendouzhe, or Striver, completed its ocean expedition and returned to a port in Sanya, Hainan province. The submersible set a national record by diving to a depth of 10,909 meters in the Mariana Trench during the expedition. [Photo/China Daily]

'Human touch'

Considering the herculean effort of sending humans deep into the ocean, one may reasonably ask why not just send a robot. Yang Ning, deputy director of the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the "human touch" is important for underwater exploration.

"The ocean floor is dark and can be very cloudy due to sediment and debris, and cameras sometimes cannot detect things in these situations as effectively as human eyes," he said.

"Moreover, aquanauts with different backgrounds can make insightful observations in real-time, which can detect spot and analyze anomalies that may lead to surprising discoveries."

For example, during a dive in the South China Sea on March 18, the crew of the Shenhai Yongshi submersible picked up what was initially thought to be an unimportant signal. However, Xie Wei, the marine microbiology expert onboard, said it should be investigated, and they were thrilled to find the first recorded whale fall in the region.

A whale fall is a rare event in which the massive carcass of a whale sinks to the ocean floor, providing a sudden concentration of food and shelter for inhabitants of the deep sea. This can form a small ecosystem consisting of 12,490 organisms from over 43 species around the remains, which can last for decades.

Bao Gengsheng, deputy chief designer of Fendouzhe, said the other advantage of a manned submersible is that it can carry far more payload and therefore conduct more complex and diverse experiments at the ocean floor.

"With a human at the helm, the submersible's vision and maneuverability will be stronger, allowing for more consistent and precise operations that are crucial for collecting samples and conducting experiments," he said.

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