@Sea - Bahamas Journey - A Quest For Drugs From The Sea

	BAHAMAS JOURNEY A Quest For Drugs From The Sea MISSION DISPATCH 3 • October 14, 2003 Dispatch by Mark Carroll - @Sea Photo-Journalist Deep Diver Having now pushed through the pristine waters of Little San Salvador, the ship and crew are now in limbo just off of Hogsty - a small shipwreck-strewn atoll at the southern end of the Bahamas, only about 70 miles from Cuba if my chart reading skills serve. Hogsty is as remarkably beautiful as the rest of the Bahamas both above and below water. On this morning's research dive, the team encountered some monstrous barrel sponges deep on the pristine reef, the largest many had ever seen (and these people study sponges for a living). By afternoon, with most of the compressed nitrogen purged from my body, I had an opportunity to enter the water with the JOHNSON SEA-LINK (JSL) submersible just as it began its dive. After drifting through the bluewater with the submersible for a few minutes, I watched from above as it descended into the depths - well beyond the limits of scuba diving - in search of potential future medicines. At 28,000 pounds, the JSL is a massive array of ballast and thrusters. It's capable of carrying a crew of four - two in the metallic aft compartment and two more in the sub's signature acrylic sphere. In front of that, like a giant Swiss Army knife, is a platform of scientific deepwater implements - suction hoses, buckets, a shovel-like scoop and a claw attached to a robotic arm. The claw is a futuristic looking device that looks as if it could fend off Captain Nemo's nemesis giant octopus, but in the hands of an experienced sub pilot like Don Liberatore (today completing his milestone 1,600th dive), the claw can pluck the most delicate of organisms from the seafloor with all the care of a master gardener. In the recent past, the Biomedical Marine Research team at Harbor Branch has used the JSL to collect a sponge named Discodermolide (affectionately referred to as "Disco" aboard ship), the compounds of which have been formed into an anti-cancer drug currently in human trials. Such past successes have raised hope for future findings deep beneath the sea. Out here, they give purpose to each sub launch, every scuba dive and every late night in the lab. ADDITIONAL DISPATCH IMAGES [ IMAGE 01 ] [ IMAGE 02 ] [ IMAGE 03 ] [ IMAGE 04 ]