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FLORIDA FRONTIERS Exploring Unknown Deep-Sea Biomedical Resources MISSION DISPATCH 1 • May 20, 2004 Dispatch by Brian Cousin - @Sea Photo-Journalist It's said every journey begins with a single step. The first ever Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology mission has started with a flying leap, in the way of a forty mile transit aboard the Harbor Branch Research Vessel Seward Johnson into the Straits of Florida, and launching a 2450-foot dive to an unexplored deep water coral mound with the Johnson-Sea-Link I (JSLI) manned submersible, all within 6 hours of leaving the dock. 
The tinny buzz of underwater acoustic voice communication reverberates through the hull of the ship as the submersible pilot and
the communications/tracking technician on the Seward Johnson's bridge exchange information about the dive: heading and depth changes,
requests for exact locations using GPS (Global Positioning Satellite system), sample collection information, bottom description,
current direction and speed, and more. Pilot Phil Santos is flying the sub up, over and around the raised feature collecting samples
identified by the Principle Investigator using the sub's powerful complement of collection devices.
Dr. Amy Wright, Director of
the Division of Biomedical Marine Research at Harbor Branch occupies the PI's seat in the submersible's sphere, next to the pilot.
Her interest is in bioactive compounds with the potential to treat human diseases that may be extracted from deep water sponges
and gorgonians.
In the sub's back compartment, technician Patrick Jorgensen tends submersible systems while Dr. Frank Mari of Florida Atlantic University's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry peers through the view ports for his quarry - cone snails that produce complex neurotoxins, components of which can produce pharmaceutically valuable products, including one of the most potent pain killers known to science. It's Dr. Mari's first dive in the JSLI and serves as an orientation to collecting and habitat characterization he will perform later in the cruise. 
Over the next two weeks the science team will pursue an ambitious schedule of submersible and scuba dives, shipboard lab work
and transits to new sites that will take them to deep water coral sites along Florida's east coast from as far north as
Jacksonville south into the Florida Keys.
Some of the sites in the northern leg of the cruise were identified during NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Ocean Exploration cruise in 2002 by Harbor Branch senior scientist John Reed. Reed is an authority on deep water coral reefs, and an instrumental figure in the establishment of the shallower (100 to 300 ft deep) Oculina Coral Bank MPA (Marine Protected Area), also just off Florida's east coast, only a few miles from where we are operating now. Using published charts and by conducting a 90-mile shipboard fathometer transect over a section of bottom, Reed has identified over 150 sites where the relatively flat bottom all of a sudden rises up between 50 and 100 feet. These features may be mounds created by deep water Lophelia coral - only examining the sites can prove if that is the case. Dives to actual Lophelia coral mounds, or lithoherms, have revealed significant communities of sponges and other organisms of interest to the Biomedical Marine Research group. The first site for this mission was selected by Reed from a readily available fishing and diving map of the east Florida region. After a quick fathometer transect to locate the mound, the sub was launched, compensating for the powerful Gulf Stream current by adding one mile of drift distance from the site. 
Three and one-half hours later, JSLI is back on deck with a nine samples - a good haul - including hexactinellida 'glass' sponges.
One is covered with zoanthids, organisms growing on the sponge that are of biomedical interest as well. Additionally, there is a nice
sample of bamboo coral, rather slimy, but also with intriguing chemistry. The DBMR team sets about processing the samples, vouchering
pieces for chemists and museums, making extracts and isolating DNA.
Dr. Frank Mari deems his first dive a fantastic experience and a success despite surfacing without any cone snails. He was surprised by the abundance of life encountered on the coral mound, and optimistic that the snails can be found in these microcosms. Dr. Mari was particularly impressed with the non-destructive collection capabilities of the Johnson-Sea-Link I, suggesting dredging at sites like these would be too damaging. He is looking forward to diving in the southern leg of the cruise, where he knows from experience that the snails make their home. Now we are transiting north through the night to the site of our second dive in this first 'Center of Excellence In Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology' cruise. Beneath the fathomless blue face of the Gulf Stream we are exploring new possibilities, making new discoveries and furthering research in biomedicine and biotechnology - here in the watery front yard of the great state of Florida. Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology The Center of Excellence was created with $10 million in state funding in 2003. It is based at FAU and combines the expertise of Harbor Branch, Florida International University, Nova Southeastern University, the Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft. Pierce, and several private companies. The overall goal for the Center of Excellence is to promote the discovery, development, and commercialization in Florida of new medicines and other products. Center funding is intended as seed money to further expand Florida's emerging marine biotechnology industry over the next two years with the goal of attracting longer-term funding from federal and commercial sources. Besides funding one expedition per year, Center of Excellence money is being used to:
2) design and build a high-definition camera system that can be carried on an AUV to map new seafloor sites 3) to purchase equipment that will greatly enhance member institutions' ability to rapidly and accurately analyze the pharmaceutical potential of new chemical compounds.  |  |
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