@Sea's Brazil Shark Mission, our "maiden voyage," was a big thrill for everyone connected with the expedition. Over the coming weeks, we'll be adding new pages and features to @Sea, and we'll be preparing for more exciting coverage of field science.

• Our next mission, coming later this spring, will take us to Andros Island in the Bahamas for the launch of an ultra-high-tech, 100,000 pound research buoy!
• Starting on August 5th, we'll set sail on the Research Vessel EDWIN LINK for deep sea adventures off the Florida Keys. Our coverage will follow biomedical researchers as they take a submersible 3000 feet beneath the surface to catalog biodiversity and seek new cures for human diseases!

More about our next mission-- Later this spring, @Sea will launch coverage of our next ocean science adventure! In space and undersea exploration, robotic craft play a major role in pushing scientific frontiers. Soon, Maritime Communications Services (a subsidiary of Harris Corporation) will be launching the first of its Ocean Net ^TM buoys, and @Sea will be there.

The Ocean Net ^TM buoy is a highly-advanced, 100,000 pound scientific instrument. Powered by onboard diesel generators, the buoy will be able to operate autonomously for up to six months at a time, returning data from the open ocean to scientists on land via INTELSAT satellites. @Sea will begin coverage of this exciting new research tool by posting a virtual reality, IPIX photo bubble tour around the inside of the buoy. Next, we will go out to sea to cover the buoy's deployment near Andros Island in the Bahamas. Finally, we'll deliver a live video feed direct to your desktop from cameras mounted on the buoy. As the fleet of Ocean Net ^TM buoys grows, @Sea visitors will be able to travel from buoy to buoy via the Web, looking out over oceans all over the world!

This initial deployment of the Ocean Net ^TM buoy system will provide data for a long-term weather experiment. NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) is using the buoy to compare the sound of rainfall measured at various ocean depths with conventional rainfall measurements at the ocean's surface. This information will provide high quality surface rainfall data over the tropical ocean for use in validating and interpreting satellite rainfall observations. Underwater acoustic rainfall monitoring is an entirely new technology for gathering information about the planet's weather.

More about our August mission-- Rainforests have yielded a number of natural products which have been used in the development of pharmaceuticals. While terrestrial sources have produced numerous drugs, the sea represents a relatively untapped resource for new drug development.

This summer, @Sea will let you join a team of scientists on the Research Vessel EDWIN LINK as they document the biodiversity of pristine, deep-water habitats around the Florida Keys and Gulf of Mexico. There, biomedical researchers from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution hope to find cures for human diseases. Follow along as they use a manned submersible to collect organisms from this largely unexplored environment.

When: August 5th through August 25th, 1999.

Where: The continental shelf and slope and into the Florida Straits to depths of 3000 feet around the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Expedition: Dr. Shirley Pomponi, Director of HBOI's Division of Biomedical Marine Research (DBMR), will lead a team of marine biologists, microbiologists, molecular biologists, and chemists to document the biodiversity and habitats of this unique region. The 4-man Johnson-Sea-Link Research Submersible (JSL), equipped with lights, cameras, data loggers, and collecting devices will be used to explore at depths of 100 - 3000 feet.

Specimens will be collected as the science team wades, snorkels, scuba dives, and dives in the JSL. In the R/V EDWIN LINK's laboratories, these specimens will be tested for novel, bioactive compounds that may have the potential to treat human diseases.