TDI-Brooks International Joins Blue Hole Belize Expedition

TDI-Brooks International, a research and service company specialising in geotechnical and offshore survey projects, has announced it will deploy the RV Brooks McCall to Belize and join the Blue Hole Expedition. The vessel will provide the logistical support, hosting and launching of Aquatica’s manned submersible submarines along with providing accommodations for all crew and guests during the two-week expedition. Partnered with Aquatica Submarines, and their partner, the Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration (RIDE), they will be deploying their submersibles for the expedition – Aquatica’s Stingray 500 and RIDE’s Idabel.

Giant marine sinkhole

Situated in the centre of Lighthouse Reef off the coast of Belize, the Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole that is 318m in diameter and 124m deep. To put its size into perspective, the Blue Hole could easily swallow two entire Boeing 747s in one gulp, undiscoverable from the surface. The Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System which is a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Blue Hole Belize expedition brings together Ocean Unite co-founder and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson; documentary filmmaker and ocean conservationist Fabien Cousteau (grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau) and submarine partner the Roatan Institute of Deep Sea Exploration, Aquatica will send multiple submersibles to collect scientific data, including a complete sonar scan of the interior.

The expedition has also enlisted a team of scientists, explorers and filmmakers to share the beautiful mysteries that await at the bottom.

TDI-Brooks are global experts when it comes to scientific expeditions and furthering ocean awareness. TDI-Brooks is the prime contractor for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) funded study entitled 'DEEP SEARCH – DEEP Sea Exploration to Advance Research on Coral/Canyon/Cold seep Habitats'. This interagency five-year, multi-million dollar study focuses on the exploration and investigation of deepwater biological communities located in U.S. federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean (Virginia to Georgia).