Live Broadcast Planned for Deepest Point in Great Lakes

Source: Inspired Planet Productions

The latest episode of Hidden Below LIVE by filmmakers and freshwater explorers Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick (Inspired Planet Productions) will take audiences on a live descent to “Superior Maximus,” the deepest point in Lake Superior, and one of the most extreme freshwater environments on Earth.

More than 55 kilometres offshore, in near-total darkness and under pressures over 40 times greater than at the surface, this is a world rarely seen.

Forty-one years ago, scientists descended here in a submersible. Since then, the depths have remained virtually unexplored, until now.

Using a cinema grade Boxfish Luna ROV, the team aim to view deepwater life uniquely adapted to these conditions. They also hope to encounter one of the rarest fish in the Great Lakes, the kiyi, a deepwater cisco now found only in Lake Superior, and never photographed alive in its natural habitat.

Joining the dive is fisheries research biologist Shawn Sitar from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. His research covers the appearance of “zombie fish”, emaciated siscowet lake trout increasingly found across Lake Superior. Many of these fish are believed to originate from the deepest parts of the lake, raising new questions about what is happening in these largely unseen ecosystems.

Viewers can expect close encounters with species including deepwater sculpin, forests of colourful hydra, Mysis shrimp, Siscowet lake trout, a giant trout specially adapted to survive in cold, lightless depths and the kiyi.

Date & Time: Planned for 6 June, 1:00 PM (local time)Weather Window: 6–9 June (timing subject to conditions)Where: Watch live on YouTube