"Great White" submarine to explore ocean floor between Catalina and mainland in April, 2009

The Great White will soon prowl the waters between Catalina and the mainland, known as the Gulf of California.
This Great White, however, isn’t a man-eating shark, but an underwater vessel meant to do research and explore the ocean. It has a lot to cover since only about 2 percent of the earth’s ocean have been explored.
The submarine is a two-person vehicle that can dive to 500 feet or up to 72 hours. It’s part of The Undersea Voyager Project, which kicked off this week.
A main purpose of the project is to give the ocean a health check-up.
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach hosted an event on Dec. 15 to kick-off the project and introduced the small submersible craft.
The program will be in full swing by spring. The craft will launch from the Los Angeles Harbor in April, 2009 and should reach Avalon after three days. The distance between the island and the mainland is about 60 miles and the ocean floor is anywhere from 100 to 200 feet deep.
The idea is to collect samples "in situ" on different species and water samples as well. The type of species known in this area are giant Humboldt squids, dolphins, whales, mako sharks, blue sharks and great whites.
The overall project has three other bigger subs that can dive up to 1,500 feet.
The Undersea Voyager Project is expected to last about five years, with a budget of about $5 million per year. Its leaders said it is a “shoestring” budget, but they expect it to be enhanced by volunteers and donations.
The subs will be tested at various sites, including the trip between Catalina Island and Long Beach.
The submersible vehicles will be able to operate continuously for about 72 hours. They will have power and safety line tethers to a larger ship.
The Undersea Voyager Project will also provide educational opportunities for students and a chance for them to interact with the project's research team.
Areas of study will include global climate change, ocean pollution and energy conservation, along with new species identification and biological ecosystems.
Students will be able to track the program progress via remote technology from their classrooms around the world.
They will also submit their own experiments, ranging from robotic inventions to environmental and species research.
The project's Undersea Classroom program will connect students and their teachers with live images of the aquanauts in the submersible as well as video from multiple external cameras.
Story courtesy of the Catalina Islander newspaper