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West Coast Wrap Up
July 20, 2000
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My 2,000-foot [609-meter] descent was SSE dive number 34 in the California sanctuaries this year; by the time we packed up to begin operations in Florida, the number of dives had grown to 39 which were accomplished during 51 days at sea by 11 different pilots. But numbers alone don’t tell the story. At a meeting in July at the National Geographic Society, we reviewed SSE 2000 and considered the following highlights of the year to date:
SSE Hawaii, January 2000, with American Deepwater Engineering and their two DeepWorker systems (subs 8 and 9), and the NOAA ship Kai’mimoana, we evaluated sites for designation as protected areas for black coral and fish, conducted side-scan surveys between Maui and Lanai and made site characterization dives with photodocumentation and biological inventories, including an hour-long encounter with a large deepwater octopus at 1,300 feet [396 meters]. We looked at and documented aggregations of small crustaceans in depths between 500 and 1,000 feet [152 and 305 meters] with special reference to their potential as a food source for whales. Concurrently, we focused on education and outreach, including a Student Ocean Summit, national webcast, web chat, Atlantis submarine student program, and an open house.
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Channel Islands, June-July 2000, aboard the NOAA ship McArthur, SSE participants conducted a geological survey around the Channel Islands with side-scan sonar coupled with direct ground truthing observations using DeepWorker in depths to 800 feet [244 meters]. Rockfish and habitat baseline information was gathered in places where full protection is anticipated, and various sites within the sanctuary were selected for site characterization, photodocumentation and biological inventory.
Monterey, June 2000, aboard the NOAA ship McArthur, comparative studies on krill were made using acoustic imaging, plankton nets and direct observation using the DeepWorker subs in depths to 1,013 feet [309 meters] as well as population evaluation and photodocumentation of rockfish and associated biota were at the head of Soquel Canyon, Point Sur and Big Creek in depths to 1,000 feet [305 meters]. Squid aggregations and spawning activity was observed and documented. And, SSE’s teacher-in-the-sea, Mike Guardino, working with Dr. Steve Webster from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, was able to extend transects and observations made at Point Lobos by scuba divers during the past two years in depths to 80 feet, to more than 800 feet [244 meters] from DeepWorker.
So far, so good. With more than a dozen new partners contributing their resources and vision to the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, numerous education and outreach contacts, and a full program of research and exploration planned for the West Florida Shelf and the Florida Keys, we are moving in the direction we love—“Onward and downward!”
— Sylvia A. Earle
Project Director
Sustainable Seas Expeditions
[Note: nationalgeographic.com does not research or copyedit dispatches.]