and the attention on this area is fascinating. i'm glued to the stories that are coming out about this. >> oceanographers are on site offering their knowledge of the deep and benefitting from a multimillion dollar operation with an unprecedented focus an an otherwise overlooked part of the ocean. >> we are talking about millions of dollars to do this work. and obviously, if one wanted to do this from a scientific perspective, we would not get the funding. >> one potential obstacle for those looking for the plane, deep layers of silt at the bottom of the indian ocean could valuable information for oceanographers. >> you can learn where it came from, what is the source of the sediment in that area and learn about the ocean bottom currents that move the sediment around.