NINE NORTH FACTS

Where is Nine North?

• Nine degrees North latitude in the Pacific Ocean
• 500 miles off the coast of Mexico
• 8,600 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean

What's down there?

• Billowing chimneys, some up to 5 stories tall
• 400 degree centigrade mineral-rich water, shooting up several hundred feet up into the ice-cold deep Pacific waters
• Toxic conditions, more deadly than cyanide
• 4,000 pounds of pressure per square inch
• A vast array of spectacular, bizarre-looking animals
• Ancient microbes that might tell us how life on Earth began
• And maybe even the key to life on other planets

Tell me about the submersibles, MIR I and MIR II

• Operated by the Russian Academy of Sciences and P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology in Moscow, Russia
• Capable of diving to over 18,000 feet
• Two of only a handful of submersibles in the world that can descend to these depths
• In operation for 15 years
• Operated by one of the world's most experienced sub pilot teams
• Featured in Jim Cameron's feature film Titanic

Nine North Itinerary (PDF)