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Our Mission Begins...
Transit - October 19, 2000 -
HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution,
Ft. Pierce, Florida
At 14:00 hours today, the 168 foot RESEARCH VESSEL EDWIN LINK (R/V EL) departed from its home
port of Fort Pierce, Florida, on a mission to the Bahamas. The R/V EDWIN LINK is carrying the
four-person JOHNSON-SEA-LINK I RESEARCH SUBMERSIBLE (JSL I), to support a four-day biomedical
marine research expedition in the Islands.
Since the early 1970s, the JSL I and II submersibles have conducted over seven thousand dives
to support a variety of marine science, achaeological, and filmmaking missions around the globe.
Thanks to the excellent visibility that these unique submersibles offer, their incomparable crews
of pilots and technicians, and their ability to document and collect samples in fresh and salt
water environs up to 3000 feet -- they continue to be one of the best work platforms for those
that need to work underwater, done in a safe and efficient manner. Join @Sea Correspondent, Brian
Cousin as he documents Biomedical Exploration: Deep Sea Discoveries in the Bahamas.
Interested in past Biomedical Mission video footage?
Check out our Downloads section.
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Day 1 - Work Has Begun - October, 20, 2000: 78 deg F (26C).
By @Sea Correspondent and Video Production Specialist - Brian Cousin
Mission's Chief Scientist: John Reed - Principal Investigator: Dr. Shirley Pomponi
The first link of the complicated chain of drug discovery
research is underway, and that's sample acquisition. In the pre-dawn light,
the sub crew prepared the JOHNSON-SEA-LINK I for its first dive of the
mission in the Bahama Islands. At 0800 hrs., the submersible was hanging out over the stern of the R/V
EDWIN LINK, against a backdrop of beach resort hotels, just over a
mile away. By 0805 hrs., the sub was in the water, headed to a depth of 500'.
Dr. Amy Wright, head of natural products chemistry, and chief submersible
pilot Don Liberatore are up front in the sphere of the JSL, in search of
crucial samples for study .
Senior Research Specialist John Reed, is leading a team of scuba divers to a
dive site a short distance from the ship. John, microbiologist Kathleen
Janda and aquaculturist Alan Duckworth are in search of a shallow water
sponge called Teichaxinella. I go along for the dive.
At 100', John starts
looking for his target, and it doesn't take long to find the first sample.
It's a good thing, because we are not allowed a great deal of time to search
at that depth. The reef is beautiful, with an abundance of different color
sponges, gorgonians and corals. Several species of fish swim near us,
curious at our presence. After 22 minutes we're back at the surface with enough samples to begin
conducting cell culture studies.
Now it won't be long before the JSL returns to the ship, and the team
focuses on the disciplines of chemistry, microbiology, taxonomy, genetics
and culture techniques for clues to how certain organisms produce their
bioactive compounds, and where within their structure they do it. That
knowledge will help open the door to the reliable culturing or synthesis of
these compounds to make possible new drugs for the treatment of humankinds
most feared diseases.
Day 2 - Science at Sea - October, 21, 2000: 77 deg F (25C).
By @Sea Correspondent and Video Production Specialist - Brian Cousin
It's Saturday, and work continues aboard the R/V EDWIN LINK off Grand
Bahama Island, because every moment of ship time is precious.
It's not exactly a regular day at the office though, and
despite the exotic location, it's not a vacation, either.
The JOHNSON-SEA-LINK submersible is currently on its third dive of the
mission, with Dr. Amy Wright up front in the sphere with submersible pilot
Craig Caddigan. Their objectives for this dive essentially mirror
yesterday's, and the dive location is near the previous sites.
After yesterday's sub dive, I looked over the shoulders of Dr.
Shirley Pomponi and Dr. Susan Sennett as they engaged in the process of
fractioning cells from samples of sponge tissue using a method called
differential centrifugation. It's a "drilling down" through a complicated
heirarchy of cellular suspensions in search of clues to the exact location
of bioactive compounds.
Susan Sennett is kind enough to explain the process to me. After grinding
sponge tissue in a blender, the resulting suspension, or "soup", can be
spun in a centrifuge for a prescribed period of time to layer out the
different sizes and densities of cells. Big cells will pellet faster,
migrating down through the suspension to the bottom of the container. The
pellet and the remaining suspension (called a supernatant) are separated,
and the new suspension is centifuged at a different speed, for a different
period of time, to draw out another pellet. The process continues until the
researchers have a series of pellets, each enriched with different cell
types.
When the centrifugation process is complete, the pellets will be
exposed to chemical analysis, DNA extraction, microbial isolations and a
nifty process called Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridization, or FISH.
FISH will be performed in the Biomedical Marine Research labs at
HARBOR BRANCH, rather than on the ship. In a way, FISH is like fishing.
The pellets formed through centrifugation may render up the genetic
sequences of many organisms. Scienitists can make a fluorescent-tagged
molecular probe that represents the sequence they are looking for, and
reintroduce it to a thin layer section of sponge tissue or the appropriate
cell pellet. The probe "fishes" around for a complimentary sequence, and if
it finds one, will fluoresce, pinpointing its cellular address in the
tissue.
Chemical analysis, DNA extractions and microbial isolations are
underway aboard ship, and already providing some gratifying results to the
scientific team.
The R/V EDWIN LINK was also paid a visit by Alexandra Cousteau of
the Phillipe Cousteau Foundation. The Foundation maintains its U.S.
headquarters at HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution. Alexandra took her
first dive in a submersible aboard the JOHNSON-SEA-LINK I. After stopping
for a photo session at 40', the sub continued to the bottom, 250' beneath
the surface.
Photo credits : Dan Boggess
Day 3 - The Search for Batzella - October, 22, 2000: 75 deg F (22C).
By @Sea Correspondent and Video Production Specialist - Brian Cousin
We transited overnight from Grand Bahama Island
to an isolated location about 20 miles south of Bimini. In the almost
darkness just before dawn, the lights of Ocean Cay are visible, just to our
starboard. Home to little more than an aragonite mine and sea birds, the
island looks like it could be consumed by its primary industry. Aragonite is
a type of sand used to make cement. Accompanying the large vehicles and
equipment used in the mining operation are the rusted hulks of two ships,
beached on the windward side of the island. This speck of land took a direct
hit from hurricane Andrew before it pounded the Florida coast in 1992.
Our objective here is to collect samples of a black colored sponge
called Batzella. Despite the curious name, Batzella is known by Harbor
Branch scientists to contain bioactive compounds that may have efficacy as
anti-tumor agents. They have been satisfied enough by previous research to
secure the necessary patents giving Harbor Branch title to the compounds
that could prove extremely valuable in the future. More work needs to be
done before approaching pharmaceutical manufacturers to licence the
compound. Years of testing will be required before a drug can make
it to market.
Further extractions, experiments, and assays on Batzella require more
raw materials, so the JOHNSON-SEA-LINK is launched twice today to collect
new samples of this marine sponge.
While the first dive is cut short, the principle investigators were
able to return to the deck with the targeted species. Some appear to be
solid chunks of sponge tissue, while others appear to be conglomerates of
sponge, sand, fine pieces of sea shell and marine plants. It looks a bit
like hot tar that has been rolled around on the ground and then tossed into
cold water to congeal.
Preliminary taxanomic analysis reveals that not all the samples are
indeed Batzella. The biomass is adequate to perform more research on the
sponge however, but more would be better.
Ironically, deteriorating weather gives the DBMR team an unexpected
break that will allow them another precious day of operations. The wind has
been steady and brisk throughout the morning and early afternoon. By the
time the sub is underwater on its second dive, the wind has increased to 25
knots. Seas are picking up too, and in the Gulf Stream, were the ship and
sub were scheduled to be operating tomorrow, seas will be running 12 to 14
feet - beyond the maximum sea state allowable for safe submersible
operations. In the shallow waters of the Bahama Banks and in the lee of the
islands, conditions for launching and recovering the manned submersible will
be acceptable.
Day 4 - Batten Down The Hatches - October, 23, 2000: 76 deg F (23C).
By @Sea Correspondent and Video Production Specialist - Brian Cousin
It's 1020 hrs. off North Cat Cay. Both the scuba
team and the sub are back on deck after their respective morning dives. Both
turned out to be short dives. The scuba team planned to collect in deeper
water , and the fathometer aboard the small boat that ferried us to our dive
site indicated the top of the reef started in over 100 feet of seawater, and
then disappeared over the wall and into the abyss. Holding on tightly to my
underwater video camera, I rolled over the side of the boat with the other
divers, and as a group we headed down into the blue. John Reed, Kathleen
Janda, and Alan Duckworth worked along the reef at about 130 feet, always
aware of the steep drop to our right. It wouldn't be hard to accidentally go
deeper than planned with just a momentary lapse of attention. The
collecting goes well and after 11 short minutes we head for the surface,
making a safety decompression stop at 15 feet. We run the small boat into
the Cay to collect bags of sand for Alan's sponge aquaculture project. It's
a natural calcium carbonate biofilter that is closest to what the sponges
were used to in the depths.
Suddenly the radio on the small boat crackles and the voice of the
captain of the research vessel requests that we return to the ship. The
JOHNSON-SEA-LINK is coming up after finding a disappointingly sparse
population of Batzella at this site. By terminating this dive early, Dr.
Amy Wright knows that time can be better managed for the next dive, in a
location she knows will feature an abundance of Batzella.
At 1100 hrs., we are steaming north to Bimini so we can clear Bahamian
customs before transiting home to Harbor Branch. We'll make one more sub
dive on our way out to collect more samples of Batzella that proved to be so
elusive this morning.
No one is really looking forward to the transit home as seas to 18
feet have been forecast for the Gulf Stream. Batten down the hatches!
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