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OPERATION DEEP SCOPE Exploring Gulf of Mexico Deep-Sea Habitats MISSION TECHNOLOGY For this mission, the team will be using tools that avoid some conventional pitfalls. One key instrument will be the Eye-in-the-Sea, which was designed by Dr. Edith Widder. This unique camera system will be deployed on the seafloor using the submersible and left for 24-hour or longer intervals to film animals 
and activities using very low levels of infrared light that deep-sea animals cannot
see. This will allow the camera to capture natural behaviors and quite possibly footage of animals
that have evaded scientists using other tools.
The system can be triggered to begin recording at programmed intervals to record animals attracted to bait or to an artificial lure designed to mimic the light given off by a common deep-sea jellyfish. (For more information about Eye-in-the-Sea and the jellyfish lure - CLICK HERE). Dr. Tammy Frank, the expedition's other co-leader and head of Harbor Branch's Visual Ecology Department, will use the submersible to deploy light-tight traps of her own design in hopes of bringing animals to the surface without damaging their eyes, as has typically been the case with past research. Eyes adapted to low light in the deep sea can be destroyed even by the relatively dim lights of a ship at night. The traps are baited then left open on the seafloor. After a period of time, the doors close automatically capturing inside the animals that have come to feed. Traps are then retrieved and unloaded in a darkroom where Dr. Frank and colleagues can study how their visual systems respond to light. The overall goal will be to learn 
what these animals are able to see under conditions where humans can see absolutely nothing.
Answering such questions will not only help the team better understand the importance and functions of the
small amounts of light found in the dark world of the deep sea, but may also lead to the discovery of new
ways to increase the sensitivity of various man-made detectors.
Dr. Charles Mazel from Physical Sciences, Inc., will be exploring fluorescence given off by deep-sea animals. Fluorescence occurs when an animal or object absorbs light of one color and then reemits light of, or glows, another color. In the ocean, detecting fluorescence can allow scientists to spot animals that would otherwise be too effectively camouflaged to see. Fluorescence is also important because the proteins that allow animals to fluoresce are used in genetic research and new fluorescent animals may contain proteins that offer novel benefits in such work. Dr. Mazel will use powerful lights mounted on the front of the submersible to illuminate animals whose fluorescence will then be captured on the sub's video camera using a filter that blocks non-fluorescent light reflected back. The filter can also be removed using the sub's robotic arm to allow filming of non-fluorescent views for comparison. To gain yet another new view of the deep, Dr. Justin Marshall from the University of Queensland, and colleagues, will be using polarized filters on the submersible video camera. Just as polarized sunglasses offer boaters a clearer view into the water by blocking out glare, polarized filters in the deep will allow scientists to see animals that hide from their predators--and normal cameras--using camouflage that exploits the properties of light polarization.  |  |
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