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DISPATCH 9 | 06.11.2007 | Off Sebastian, FL Today is the last day of the expedition. High tide this evening is at 20:00 (8 PM) so we need to be somewhere close enough to Fort Pierce to arrive at the dock for high tide. The Indian River lagoon is best traversed by ships as large as the Seward Johnson at high tide. After reviewing the charts, past transects, and information we have on past dive sites we settle on one dive to be conducted on a deep-water lithoherm about four hours offshore near the EEZ in 2500 feet of water and a second dive on a much shallower reef called Jeff's reef. John Reed did much of his pioneering work leading to the protection of the Oculina Reefs, through work done at Jeff's Reef and areas close to it. In addition to collection of samples, we can document the health and biodiversity of this reef. 
At 15:00 all of the scientists and two observers who joined us yesterday in Fort Lauderdale gathered in front of the submersible for a group photo. Everyone is a bit tired and ready to get back to the dock and relax a bit. For me it was very productive trip. We explored many new sites and discovered new specimens. Students and new staff in my group had the opportunity to experience deep-diving in the Johnson-Sea-Link II submersible and gain first hand experience in the collection process. We also added a large amount of data to our growing understanding of deep-water habitats off Florida. This data will be shared with colleagues and will hopefully lead to better management of these unique and diverse sites. Our observations of previously unobserved fish spawning aggregations; sites with abundant snowy grouper; numerous sites with exceptional sponge and gorgonian diversity, some of them right on the edge of the US Exclusive Economic Zone - keeps me optimistic that deep-Florida is a healthy and productive area for continued exploration. I hope that we will have funding to come back again next year and continue this work. It's been a great time and I hope that all of you following the expedition have enjoyed it as much as we have. Stay in touch and see you all "virtually" again next year! Amy Wright Ph.D. Chief Scientist - South to Tortugas Expedition Expedition photo - Front row: Vincent Burke; Hilaire Kemami Wangun; Shirley Pomponi; Esther Guzman; Jill Roberts; Tara Pitts; Malcolm deSieyes; Next row: Jennifer Choate; Latasha Amisial; Amy Wright; Kathleen Janda; John Reed; Rex "Chip" Baumberger; Back row: Kate Douglas, Priscilla Winder 
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