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PURE EXPLORATION First Deep Scope Expedition, in 2004, Uncovered Potential New Squid Species, Glowing Energy Deposits, and the World's First Known Fluorescent Shark The screams were heard throughout the ship. Those who ran to investigate the ruckus in the lab found no emergency but rather two very happy scientists replaying an incredible electronic encounter. On their laptop screen was footage of a huge, possibly never before seen squid species jetting past again and again. 
The squid discovery was just one important element of a wildly successful exploratory expedition to the Gulf of Mexico called
Operation Deep Scope that was funded by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration. The August cruise took place aboard the
R/V
Seward Johnson II
and the
Johnson-Sea-Link I (JSLI)
submersible. It was co-led by
Dr. Edith Widder, head of Harbor Branch's
Bioluminescence Department and Biophotonics Center, and
Dr. Tammy Frank, head of the Visual Ecology Department and also
included researchers from Duke University; the University of Queensland, Australia; the Whitney Lab of the University of
Florida; the University of Ulm, Germany; and Physical Sciences, Inc., in Andover, Mass.
Dive locations for the cruise included a spectacular deepwater coral reef known as Viosca Knoll, methane seeps where chemosynthetic clams and worms that rely on methane-eating bacteria for nutrition are found, and a bizarre site known as the Brine Pool. There, salt deposits in the seafloor dissolve to create water so dense that it forms a shallow lake 2,100 feet below the oceanŽs surface. 
The squid was captured on tape using the innovative Eye-in-the-Sea,
a prototype camera system conceived by Dr. Widder
and designed to rest on the seafloor taking video footage unobtrusively of organisms residing there. The system uses very
low levels of red light that deep-sea animals cannot see combined with low-light camera technology with the goal of capturing
animals and behaviors that scientists might otherwise never observe.
Expert analysis suggests the squid is a species never before observed by humans, though the footage is not sufficient for a definitive determination. Remarkably, the footage was captured by Eye-in-the-Sea on its first operational deployment in the Gulf of Mexico. The event not only proved the camera's observational value, it also clearly highlighted the need for ocean exploration. In one hour on the bottom of the Gulf Eye-in-the-Sea had documented a new species. Not something small that might have slipped past other observers, but a six-foot monster. "Knowing something like that could be discovered in such a short time, its difficult not to conclude that countless strange, beautiful, and important discoveries still await us in the depths," says Dr. Widder. The Eye-in-the-Sea also captured jaw-dropping footage of a 12-foot sixgill shark, numerous fish, and bizarre giant isopods common in the deep sea that look like horror-film versions of rolly pollys. 
Besides observing deep-sea animals, another goal for the expedition was to learn more about how deep-sea animals observe
in such dim light. One of the greatest challenges in such studies is getting animals to the surface without ship or sub lights
damaging their eyes.
To avoid this problem, Dr. Frank used light-tight, baited traps, designed by Harbor Branch's Engineering Division, deployed and retrieved using the submersible. She was only able to collect two crabs in the traps, but her studies showed that they had extremely sensitive eyes, while those collected under the bright submersible lights were completely blinded. During Deep Scope, Dr. Frank was only able to leave the traps on the bottom for 6-hour intervals, but hopes to shift to 24-hour deployments on future expeditions in hopes of collecting more animals. Yet more proof of the value of exploration came from work by Dr. Charles Mazel from Physical Sciences, Inc., and Dr. Mikhail Matz from Whitney Lab. Their main goal was to study fluorescence given off by deep-sea animals. Fluorescence occurs when an animal or object absorbs light of one color and then reemits light of 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. 
Drs. Mazel and Matz used powerful lights covered with blue filters mounted on the front of the submersible to illuminate
animals whose fluorescence was then recorded by the sub's video camera using a filter that blocked the blue light but allowed
reflected fluorescent light through.
Using this equipment the group not only discovered the world's first known species of fluorescent shark-a relatively common deep-sea species called the chain dogfish whose intricate fluorescent pattern had never been seen-but also that methane hydrates are brilliantly fluorescent. Methane hydrates are ice crystals that form under a narrow range of temperature and pressure conditions, trapping fossil fuel methane inside them. Hydrates are widespread throughout many deep-sea areas and are already being explored as a future energy source. The knowledge that they fluoresce, an "accidental" result of exploration, could lead to new detection techniques. The expedition team was also interested in animals that cannot be seen. Divers working in open water near the surface gathered data that strongly supports a new theory put forth by Dr. Justin Marshall of the University of Queensland. The idea is that some animals use polarized light to detect and prey on animals such as jellyfish and fish larvae whose transparency would otherwise render them invisible. Dr. Marshall took video at various depths and angles with polarized filters, then analyzed the footage to determine how much light in a given area is polarized. He measured values as high as 40%, suggesting at least the possibility that polarized light plays an important role. Study on the ship of various transparent creatures by Dr. Marshall, Dr. Sonke Johnsen, former Harbor Branch post-doctoral fellow now of Duke University, and Dr. Widder, showed that some animals transparent to human eyes stand out prominently under polarized filters. This combined with the polarization measurements lends strong support to Dr. Marshall's theory. 
The researchers' greatest challenge during the expedition was dodging turbulent Gulf weather, at one point having to run
100 miles west of the planned track to avoid Tropical Storm Bonnie, which passed directly over some dive sites. Afterwards,
the group rode out high seas generated by the low-pressure system that forced Hurricane Charley away from the dive sites
but across Central Florida.
Nonetheless, only one day of submersible operations was lost to weather, and by all accounts, the cruise was unforgettable. "Deep Scope was exploration in its purest form, something that is all too rare," says Dr. Widder, "To say that this cruise was a success would be an understatement," she says, "We returned with an embarrassment of riches" 
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