@Sea - OPERATION DEEP SCOPE II - Exploring Gulf of Mexico Deep-Sea Habitats

	MISSION DISPATCH 8 August 24, 2007 Mark Schrope - @SEA Correspondent aboard the R/V SEWARD JOHNSON Location: Off Little San Salvador Still More Wonders We made it to Little San Salvador this morning about 7:00 a.m. The island is privately owned by a cruise line, but the company only bring ships here once or twice a week. It's fairly deserted the rest of the time save for support staff. The beaches on the northern tip of the island are of the postcard variety and we have them to ourselves when we visit. The Mysterious Globs Sonke Johnsen and Harbor Branch sub pilot Phil Santos got the first views of our new location and returned with descriptions of a bizarre cast of characters and strange goings on. They hit the bottom at about 2,500 feet and found mostly mud, but quite a few animals as well. Highlights included an enormous 4-foot snipe eel, fish that hang vertically and still, and a swimming sea cucumber Sonke describes as like a "sort of weird, pink, chubby, ballerina," because its wings resemble a tutu. Phil made capturing one of these sea cucumbers unscathed by rising up under it with a sample bucket something of a Captain Ahab pursuit. But, alas, after many attempts he had to settle for collecting with the suction tube, which only caused minimal damage to the sample. In the muddy section they also found a mound etched by what looked like tire treads but were made by a herd of active sea urchins. "It looked like an ATV festival," says Sonke, "I don't see the point because every piece of mud looks like every other piece of mud, so I can't imagine why they're moving around so much and what they're eating." They moved on to find strange sinkhole-like features with striking, white limestone walls. At the bottom of these holes they spotted and collected what they thought were snails. Back on the surface, though, they discovered what looked like grapes encased in plastic sheaths. These balls are pressurized when opened and filled with fine material that looks like sediment. Nobody has any idea what they could be, and no one has seen them before. A friendly academic argument later ensued regarding whether the grapes were in fact, well, somebody's poop. Misha Matz thought it was plausible. Edie Widder didn't think it was possible that any animal would expend the energy to create such a pellet. Sonke observed helpfully that, if they are some animal's droppings, "That's some pretty high-tech poop." Misha has promised to see if material can be genetically sequenced. If so, he'll compare the sequence to genetic databases to look for a match that might give a clue as to the balls' origin. Clearly, we have an enormous amount still to learn about even the most basic aspects of deep-sea biology. A Quest Completed Four years ago, Edie Widder and Sonke set out to take the most precise and complete measurements of both the amount of light and the colors of light that reach the deep-sea at different depths. There were equipment problems, though, so they weren't able to collect the data they needed. The issues were resolved soon after, but it has taken this long for the researchers to get a second chance to attempt the measurements, which have to be taken in very clear water such as those found here in the Bahamas. During today's second dive, to about 2,400 feet, Edie and Erika Raymond were finally in the right place at the right time with the right equipment, and they got their data. As far as we know, this is the first time such detailed information about light in the deep has ever been gathered. As the data are processed over the coming months, this knowledge will form a critical foundation for accomplishing many of the expedition's other research goals. Knowing what light makes it to a given depth will allow the scientists to begin answering questions about what the animals down there are truly able to see, which in turn will help them decipher how animals might use bioluminescence, fluoresce, and various forms of camouflage. With fluorescence, for example, one of the key questions is whether animals even use it, or whether it is simply a by-product of some other aspect of their physiology. Once light levels are understood, though, Misha Matz and others will be able to determine first whether there is enough light at a given depth to excite the fluorescence—a phenomenon involving light being absorbed then reemitted as a different color, or wavelength. Once that is determined, they'll be better able to explore whether or not fluorescence is being used. A Mound With a View Edie and Erika also deployed the Eye-in-the Sea (EITS) again. "The landscape was unique," says Erika, "I've never been on a dive before and seen a region like this." What they found was a series of ledges and slopes, then large mounds that dropped into the great abyss on three sides. At 2,275 feet they placed EITS on top of one of these mounds, whose structure makes the site almost like placing the system up in the water column. Indeed, while there they saw a number of jellyfish and other organisms seen more commonly in open midwater than around reefs and walls. As a result, Edie and Erika expect the video they download from EITS after tomorrow's scheduled retreival to be unlike any they've collected from past deployments. An Uncomfortably Curious Shark Scuba and snorkeling trips to Little San Salvador's scenic beaches were a popular break for most today, so the small boats made several trips back and forth from the ship. During the first excursion, the highlight was undoubtedly the repeated visits of a reef shark that, while not huge at about five feet, seemed quite large enough. It swam away quickly the first time we saw it, but after it made two or three return visits to get a closer and closer look at us, we decided it was time to move on. Poisonous Worm Puts On a Show Today the research team got to do one dive on the reef near the island and one bluewater dive. At the reef they found, among other organisms, an exquisite fire worm with spectacular fluorescence—red on the body and green on its frilly gill appendages. Though this poisonous worm's fluorescence was already known, no one has yet studied the proteins responsible for the fluorescence as Misha will be doing. During dives, Justin Marshall has been alternating between using filters on his video camera that allow only ultra-violet light through and a set that polarizes the light coming through to allow him to study both phenomena. Today, he was using the polarization filters and while on the reef got great footage of a goatfish that stood out noticeably from it's background with polarized light, further supporting Justin's theory that some ocean animals use polarized vision to allow them to better spot their prey. It's not clear yet whether we'll spend all our remaining time here or move on to one more location. Regardless, the goal will be to maximize the number of submersible dives by traveling as much as possible at night. Right now we're more than 20 hours from Freeport, where we'll clear out of customs Monday night before heading back to Florida. ADDITIONAL DISPATCH IMAGES [ IMAGE 01 ] [ IMAGE 02 ] [ IMAGE 02 ]