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Tentacles entend from a colony of coral polyps on the outer layer of this hard coral formation. (photo: J. Reed)
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The versatile arm of the JSL can collect specimens with a suction tube, scoop, or with its mechanical hand.
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Stormy days make for spectacular sunsets like this one, seen from the stern of the RVEL. |
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"HBOI's Division of Biomedical Marine Research has always been dedicated to protecting the marine environment," said HBOI Chief Scientist John Reed via satellite-relayed email. "Our collection team is headed by marine ecologists who are careful to sample selectively using submersibles and scuba to avoid damage to the environment."
The away team returned by late afternoon under increasingly sunny skies. As they rushed their new samples into the labs, the EDWIN LINK motored further off-shore to deploy the JOHNSON-SEA-LINK submersible for its daily afternoon dive.
The submersible allows researchers to be as meticulous in the depths as the scuba divers are in the shallows. The robotic arm of the sub is virtually as precise as the fingers of a scientist. With a panoramic perspective and an array of sophisticated instruments for documenting the conditions of each collection site, skilled pilots and researchers aboard the JSL can collect samples with unparallelled care and specificity.
Before the availability of tools like the JSL, scientific trawls were one of the few techniques available for retreiving samples from the ocean bottom. But trawling often destroyed habitats in the very act of probing their mysteries. Heavy nets were dropped into the sea and dragged along the bottom, scooping up anything and everything in sight, scraping the bottom clean in their path. Many of the animals pulled to the surface were the wrong animals, unnecessarily killed. Scientific trawling is a small-scale adaptation of the enormously destructive trawling techniques used by commercial fishing fleets around the world.
Thanks to the care taken by scientists on the RVEL, all of the animals collected on this three-week mission probably amount to less than the unintended catch of just a single trawl.
August 24, 9:00am, 20 miles east of Key Largo, Florida -- It is the last morning of research operations for this cruise. The EDWIN LINK is cutting transects through the choppy sea, scanning the ocean floor for a sinkhole that is believed to be in this area. The science crew do not plan to pack up their equipment until late tonight...it seems like they are working doubly hard this morning, knowing that they have only hours left to spend in their on board labs.
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The Research Vessel EDWIN LINK rests on a quiet ocean waiting for the JSL sub to return from the depths.
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CLICK HERE to learn more about
our correspondent, Mark Carroll. |
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