From 2 May to 5 June 2009, the RV "Kilo Moana" hosted the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) hybrid remotely operated vehicle (HROV) "Nereus" team for the first operational test of the "" in its 3-ton tethered ROV mode. The "Nereus" team was headed by Dr. Louis Whitcomb of Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Dana Yoerger and Andy Bowen of WHOI. The University of Hawaii sent two chief scientists: biologist Tim Shank, and geologist Patricia Fryer, to head the science team exploiting the ship’s bathymetry and organizing the science experiments deployed by the "Nereus". From "Nereus" dive #007ROV to just south of Guam, to dive #010ROV into the Nero Deep at , the testing gradually increased depths and complexities of activities at the bottom.