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FATHOMING THE GULF STREAM - Nature's Pharmacy and Eyes In The Sea MISSION DISPATCH 2 • 08/20/02 Today's Weather - images courtesy of NOAA & RSMAS Dispatch by Brian Cousin - HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution August 19, 8am. - Dr. Shirley Pomponi climbs into the sphere of the Johnson-Sea-Link II with pilot Craig Caddigan, to make the first submersible dive on the Stetson Lophelia Bank. Not just the first dive [JSL II dive# 3314 - depth 2095ft.] of the mission -but the first sub dive ever on this site. After reviewing the technical, scientific, and safety logistics at the pre-launch meeting, Chief Submersible Pilot and Sub Ops Coordinator Don Liberatore, sums it up in explorer's terms: "Let's dive and see what's down there." The team has an idea what the bottom profile looks like after successfully transecting the area the night before. They obtained readings from the ship's fathometer and from the sub tracking equipment, which 
offers accurate latitude and longitude information through the Global
Positioning Satellite system, or GPS. The fathometer shows peaks,
presumably lithoherms or Lophelia reef, plus some unexpected features,
including valleys and fissures hundreds of feet deep, depicted by the blue,
purple, and green imagery presented by the fathometer's display.
What the team doesn't know is the extent of biodiversity in the area. For Dr. Pomponi, this is the real question-will there be an abundance of species in this unexplored region that might possibly provide compounds of pharmaceutical value? In keeping with the spirit of multi-disciplinary science, Dr. Edie Widder is hitching a ride in the aft compartment of the 4-person sub. She'll be using a spectrophotometer mounted outside the sub and connected to a computer inside, to measure irradiance, or light levels transmitted through the water as the JSL makes its descent from the bright surface through the darkening depths. These values will help her and Dr. Tammy Frank's teams begin to piece together some of the puzzle of why and how animals see, and make themselves seen, in the dim light regions of the deep ocean. Later, as the sub begins its return to the surface, a storm front the ship's crew has been watching on radar, begins to make its presence felt. In the distance, heavy rain appears as a thick black smudge. Then, a cloud reaches down a thin, long finger to touch the surface of the ocean and a waterspout is born. The wind picks up and blows spray off the white-capped waves. Powerful lightning bolts flash from clouds to water. While the seas are not high, conditions are not exactly the best for recovering the sub. 
"Fifteen-hundred feet," the pilot reports progress of the sub's ascent to
the surface crew. By the time the sub appears in the waves
at the surface, the rain has tapered off and the wind has dropped. The
sub is recovered safely, and with a biomedical researcher's treasure
trove packed
[QT video clip] in the collection buckets on the front of the sub. There
are hexactinellid or "glass" sponges, a bright yellow Spongosorites
from which HARBOR BRANCH has isolated the topsentin anti-inflammatory
compounds, a piece of Lophelia coral, star fish, and an odd-looking
ball-shaped sponge with two large diameter siphon-like structures,
called oscular tubes.
Dr. Pomponi is elated. "It's certainly different from what I expected. There was a lot of Lophelia coral, I expected that, but it's a very diverse area with lots of sponges and hydroids, too. Finding Spongosorites here sets a new record of occurrence for the western Atlantic [previously found in the Caribbean]. We flew over some of the smaller ridges and valleys and found a good flat area for Edie (Dr. Widder) to deploy her Eye-in-the-Sea camera and collected some samples that might be bioluminescent. Later, we'll dive in the deep fissures we saw on the fathometer - I'm really looking forward to that," says Shirley. The samples are moved quickly from the sub to the wet lab for processing. Members of each science team crowd around and peer into the buckets. "Is there a protocol for taking pieces of samples?", asks Dr. Mike Matz, anxious to start checking some of the collection for studies in fluorescence. Dr. Peter Herring asks for a sample to check it for bioluminescent activity. "Yes, there's a protocol." Dr. Pomponi exclaims. And there really is. First, small sections of tissue must be taken for DNA and microbiological isolations. Touching anything before these critical samples are taken could contaminate them, rendering them useless for this purpose. This could be the first time ever that researchers studying visual ecology in the ocean investigate samples collected primarily for biomedical research. Upon taxonomic inspection in the lab, Dr. Pomponi suggests that two of the sponges collected look very unusual, and that one may indeed be a new species. 
As the Biomedical Marine Research team finishes processing samples, the
Johnson-Sea-Link is readied to dive again [JSL II dive# 3315 - depth 2150ft.].
With freshly charged
batteries and air banks, it will transport Dr. Tammy Frank to the bottom
with her light-proof traps baited with mesh bags full of fish meal and
flour. Edie Widder, will also deploy her exciting new Eye In the Sea
camera. It'll be left on the bottom near Dr. Frank's traps to make
video recordings of animals that produce their own light, known as
bioluminescence. Tomorrow, traps and camera will be recovered, and the
process of scientific discovery will continue, perhaps with something
never witnessed before.
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