Re: Will there be an explaination for how enterprise can go underwater
But in that same nine-minute preview, don't they say they could beam him up if they had a better line of sight?
But then I would be engaging in the kind of exposition I usually complain about when it comes from characters.
Kirk and McCoy are running away from the natives wearing some sort of costume that hides their appearance completely (until late into the running away), so they don't want to be seen. Kirk is carrying something (a scroll of some sort) that the natives desperately want back (hence the chase) and that is deliberate as Kirk announces via communicator to both the Enterprise and the shuttlecraft that the natives are out of the immediate "kill zone"). The shuttlecraft experiences problems coping with the volcanic emissions and Sulu and Uhura are forced to abandon the craft while Kirk and McCoy are forced to jump into the water to escape being seen clearly by the natives. Aboard the Enterprise, we learn via dialogue that Spock cannot be beamed out directly from the volcano to their position because of some sort of magnetic field interference (what? a planet with an environmental component that interferes with the transporter? How could Abrams violate canon like that?).
Inference: The field that interferes with the transporter could also wreak havoc with sensors (quite likely as sensors and transporter seem to work in conjunction), so the ship must be much closer than usual to the planet. Hiding underwater is easiest way to hide from the natives.
Simple, really.
But in that same nine-minute preview, don't they say they could beam him up if they had a better line of sight?