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Associated PressUsing new camera systems, scientists explore the Gulf of Mexico and get a fresh look at some unusual creatures.
PENSACOLA - Scientists had high praise Wednesday for advanced technology that gave them a new and better look at strange and elusive creatures in the deepest reaches of the Gulf of Mexico.
Operation Deep Scope, a 10-day, $210,000 expedition financed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ended when the research vessel Seward Johnson II returned to Panama City.
"The footage we got is just beyond my wildest dreams," said Edith Widder, a senior scientist for the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce.
Widder, co-leader of the expedition, said in a telephone interview that Deep Scope proved the concept of leaving a new camera system, known as Eye-in-the-Sea, on the sea bottom for 24 hours at a time to photograph creatures under low levels of infrared light invisible to the animals.
"The concept is that there's a lot we can learn and see if we aren't down there scaring animals away," Widder said. Minisubs and remote-controlled vehicles previously used are noisy and equipped with bright lights.
The Eye-in-the-Sea returned video clips of a large squid about 6 feet long and a six-gill shark at least 12 feet in length. The squid may be a newly detected species, but Widder said she won't be sure until an expert has a chance to see the tape.
Six-gill sharks have been seen before, but the camera provided some new insight, Widder said.
"To see this thing coming in on the camera and munch down on the bait that we had there for it - up close and personal - was just astonishing," she said.
Scientists also had success with a black light system mounted on a minisubmarine for photographing deep-sea creatures that give off their own light, known as bioluminescence. They also used polarized light to see some animals that otherwise would be hard to spot.
"We think it's pretty obvious from what we've done just on this cruise that predators must be using polarization as a way of breaking the camouflage of other animals," Widder said. "It's an arms race."
She said complete results will not be known until scientists have a chance to examine all the data and specimens recovered during the expedition.
It began with rough seas forcing the scientists to drop plans to explore De Soto Canyon about 120 miles south of Pensacola and go on to another site, known as the Brine Pool, off the Louisiana coast. It is an underwater lake of extremely salty water more than 2,000 feet below the surface, where the large squid was photographed.
Tropical Storm Bonnie then forced the expedition to take another 100-mile detour to the west off the Texas coast.