Scientists are to investigate the mysteries of the ocean depths using three submersibles off the waters of Bermuda.

The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) has teamed up with renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle in an attempt to determine the deepest depth that corals survive.

The subs have been loaned from California company, Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, in what is only the third manned submarine programme to take place off the Island since William Beebe's dives in the early 1930s.

In scenes akin to a science fiction movie, the three submersibles will explore the Island's deep reefs over the next three months. Launched from the Institute's vessel, Bank of Bermuda Atlantic Explorer, the subs will take samples and compare DNA from similar species.

The last sub research, by Dr. Hans Fricke in the 1980s, suggested that corals in Bermuda do not occur deeper than 60 metres.

BIOS scientists will work off the east end of the Island to discover whether deeper coral reefs provide a refuge for shallow reefs on the Island platform, thereby helping the reefs "re-seed" when bleaching or other coral diseases may affect them.

New techniques are also being developed to survey the deeper benthos, and it is hoped that at the end of the project the subs will stay on at BIOS for use in other marine science investigations.

The one-man Deep-Workers were designed by Dr. Earle to allow scientists greater access to the depths of the ocean, while the larger submersible will be used to collect high quality images and deep-water coral samples.

Associate Research Scientist Dr. Samantha dePutron and Post-Doctoral Scientists Dr. Jeannette Loram, Dr. Alex Venn and Dr. Sheila McKenna are the other BIOS scientists involved in the project.

Bermuda is an ideal location for global deep-ocean and coral reef research due to its proximity to deep water.