From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

This stream provides a live view of the video feed coming from the Okeanos Explorer as it explores sites of interest in the vicinity of the Galápagos Rift. The feed includes ROV video from the seafloor, audio narration by scientists on and off the ship, and real-time sonar, CTD, and navigation displays that assist the scientists in their work.

This unique expedition, to one of the most fascinating areas of the world’s ocean, will explore diverse deep sea habitats on seamounts and hydrothermal vent systems in the Galápagos region.

The Okeanos Explorer can discover interesting seafloor features with the deep water multibeam sonar mapping system. In addition, the ship has a dedicated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), which can travel down to a depth of 4,000 meters. High-definition video from the ROV and camera platform are sent to the ship and to shore in real-time, a technology referred to as “telepresence.” Although the Okeanos Explorer may be thousands of miles away, the scientists standing watch at shore side exploration “command centers” throughout the country will be able to guide the ship through its mission, and help enable seafloor images and video to stream live into classrooms, newsrooms, and living rooms through high speed internet.