The Bermuda Biological Station scientists are hoping they will one day operate a deep-sea robot from the comfort of their desks.

At the moment they have to sail out to sea and drop a robot overboard, controlling it from equipment on the boat.

But soon, they hope, a robot will be able to swim out by itself and then take instructions from the station.

One day, even scientists in other countries may be able to control the robot from their labs, without travelling to Bermuda.

The Bio Station already uses two robots, known as remote-operated vehicles or ROVs, to explore the ocean depths.

Details of the new plan were revealed by the Bio Station's Dr. Tony Michaels in a BBC World Service radio programme.

He said: "What we'd like to do is to try and get a mooring set in the ocean that's connected to the shore by a fibre-optic cable, and then actually get a vehicle that's capable of going to great depths, but that can swim out to the mooring all by itself and clip into the mooring.

"Then, once it's clipped in, you have the control, you're driving it from the laboratory instead of from the deck of a ship.

"The vehicle goes out, does all its work, collects the samples and then comes back again, autonomously.'' The fibre-optic connection could make long-distance links possible, he said.

"Somebody could conceivably connect in from the UK or from the United States, and sit down at their desk in the morning and drive the ROV for an hour or two as it sits off Bermuda.'' Dr. Michaels' comments were broadcast to thousands of World Service listeners recently as part of a programme on the Bio Station.

He said the ROV gave the station a "pair of eyes'' that could peer into the ocean depths without sending an expensive submarine.

He added: "There's a small manipulator on the vehicle that allows you to reach down and grab something, so that if there's a snail or something on the soil, you can reach out and grab it.

"We're hoping, in the future, to also add on other sorts of collecting devices to collect organisms in the mid-water.

"We've added specialised cameras that allow you photograph very, very small organisms, or to actually count the sorts of organisms that are present in the water.

"They allow you to see organisms down to, say, a tenth of a millimetre in size, and to actually count them.'' The programme also highlighted the station's role in seeking out medicines from the sea.

Another station scientist featured was Dr. Kent Simmons, who discussed possible effects on marine life from ash produced by Bermuda's new incinerator.

He said: "From our predictions we don't believe that it's going to be a significant threat to the environment.''