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hicle or LRT. The LRT is a submersible barge. It has major application in the launch of large instrument packages in high sea states. HURL is increasingly becoming involved in the development of offshore wind, including major off- shore wind farms and the deployment of seaß oor observatories and instrumenta- tion. Other examples of technological development include: a) development of the methodology for, and implemen- tation of, joint technical ÔwetÕ rebreather diver and submersible operations ini- tially used in support of a major multi-year mesophotic coral research project and b) a highly sensitive Deep Ocean Mass Spectrometer, a quantum leap for Ôin situÕ high resolution chemical analy- sis particularly in the documentation of chemical weapons discarded on the sea ß oor. Loihi Seamount:One of the most important areas HURL has monitored over the years is the next Hawaiian Island, Loihi Seamount. Now about 3,000 feet below the surface, Loihi will break water between 10,000 and 50,000 years from now. Loihi has already grown 15,000 up from the sea- ß oor. What is important about this edi- Þ ce is that it forms a natural laboratory for the study of PaciÞ c volcanic pro- cesses, especially their collapse with en-suing tsunamis. The long-term study of Loihi submarine volcano, over nearly 25 years, has fully documented its growth including its explosive history, the tsu- nami risk from major collapse events such as that in 1996, and analyzed its Image Courtesy HURL www.seadiscovery.com MTR #5 (18-33).indd 25MTR #5 (18-33).indd 255/31/2012 9:55:28 AM5/31/2012 9:55:28 AM