WASHINGTON—A $6 million initiative to explore, document and provide critical scientific data on America’s coastal waters was launched Thursday with a goal of developing a strategy for the restoration and conservation of the nation’s marine resources.

The five-year Sustainable Seas Expeditions project, which will use new technologies to pioneer deep exploration, will be funded with a grant of $5 million from the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund, a philanthropic and environmental foundation based in San Francisco, and $775,000 from the National Geographic Society’s Exploration Council. The Society will also provide in-kind contributions to generate public awareness of the national marine sanctuaries.

Sustainable Seas Expeditions will work with the managers of the sanctuaries, which are government-proclaimed reserves administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Making up about 18,000 square miles (46,616 square kilometers) of American coastal waters in patches ranging from American Samoa to Maine, the sanctuaries include the Monitor Civil War shipwreck off North Carolina, Pacific and Atlantic haunts of whales, sea lions, sharks, rays and turtles, and a mass coral spawning ground in the Gulf of Mexico.

The project will be led by marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle and former National Marine Sanctuary program director Francesca Cava.

“In order to protect the oceans we first need to understand and appreciate them,” said Richard N. Goldman, president of the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund. “This historic partnership between the National Geographic Society and renowned marine explorer Sylvia Earle will play a critical role in preserving our ocean environment.”

The National Marine Sanctuary System was created in 1972, exactly 100 years after the first national terrestrial park was proclaimed. The 12 sanctuaries in the marine system are largely unexplored at depths greater than 100 feet (30.5 meters), and there is no comprehensive documentation of the plants and animals and their habitats at those levels, in part because sophisticated technology is needed to allow human beings to work at those depths.

“Policies governing deep-water resources are based largely on samples retrieved by dragging nets and lowering instruments into the depths without actually seeing anything,” said Earle. “It’s as if aliens tried to understand the nature of San Francisco or New York by blindly pulling a trawl through the streets from a craft somewhere in the sky.”

Alarming declines in numerous fish species, widespread loss of coral reefs and other near-shore ecosystems, and increasing ecological damage caused by polluted runoff are some recent signs that America’s coastal waters can no longer be taken for granted as a place for endless food supplies and unlimited dumping of wastes.

The Sustainable Seas Expeditions project will create base-line data for monitoring of the sanctuaries, comparing relatively pristine coasts with those that have been abused, and educating the public about the diversity of marine life and the importance of protecting it. More than half of America’s population lives in coastal states, and many local economies depend on the sea.

Sustainable Seas Expeditions will use a variety of marine tools to carry out the first systematic deepwater exploration and survey of the sanctuaries. An innovative submarine called Deep Worker will make much of the effort possible. Deep Worker is a one-person craft with a clear acrylic dome over the pilot’s head and shoulders. The sub is propelled and maneuvered by four powerful thrusters. The pilot sits in a warm, dry cabin with a computer touch-screen control system, including mechanical arms, almost as if she were driving an underwater car.

Submersibles will provide unprecedented “bottom time” for divers at depths unattainable by conventional means. In the Hawaiian Islands sanctuary, for example, Sustainable Seas Expeditions scientists will explore and document the deep channels between Maui, Lanai and Kona, in areas where humpback whales concentrate in winter. No direct observation has been made below 100 feet (30.5 meters) in most of this region or of the whales in this habitat.

“Sustainable Seas Expeditions has the potential to produce stunning scientific discoveries and extraordinary educational experiences for millions of people,” said John Fahey, president of the National Geographic Society. “The data we gather will provide stronger foundations for marine research and for more sound marine conservation policies. Through new knowledge, we have the opportunity to create a ‘sea-change’ in how Americans perceive—and care about— their coastal areas and ocean resources.”

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April 23, 1998