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The underwater frontier
Explorer Sylvia Earle and her crew are researching the mysteries of waters surrounding the United States. On Tuesday, they dock their vessels in Tampa for a visit and tours.
By AMY ABBOTT
© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 21, 2001
If the television specials and vibrant, glossy-paged magazines weren't enough, National Geographic is coming to you.
Sylvia Earle, explorer in residence for the National Geographic Society, will dock the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Gordon Gunter next to the Florida Aquarium at Terminal 6 on Tuesday to offer free tours and field questions.
The Gordon Gunter is a research vessel supplied by NOAA for Earle to use during her five-year expedition, "Sustainable Seas." She also has several auxiliary vessels, including two submersible, one-man systems called DeepWorkers that can take divers to depths of 2,000 feet. And there's a crew of specially trained scientists and engineers.
All of this technology and expertise is being used to explore the 13 National Marine Sanctuaries that border the United States. The purpose is to research the factors that shape the systems, find better ways to protect and monitor them, and create public awareness about the oceans.
"Sustainable Seas" is Earle's brainchild. She has led more than 50 research expeditions, logged more than 6,000 hours underwater and served as chief scientist for NOAA. The project has the financial backing of a $5-million grant and support from such organizations as the Navy, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and students from the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus and Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory. But this isn't the only place they intend to investigate.
The mission takes Earle and her crew to troll the kelp beds of Monterey Bay, survey the habits of humpback whales off the Hawaiian coast and explore the unique Stellwagen Bank in the Northeast, all to find new ways to protect and enhance marine biodiversity.
This year's mission has three legs. The first is a loop beginning in Belize, traveling up the Mexican coast, along the Texas coast and down the west coast of Florida. The second begins in southern Cuba and snakes around the western coast to end in the Keys. The final leg picks up where they left off to cruise along eastern Florida, ending off the coast of North Carolina.
This segment of the overall mission is called "Islands in the Stream," and it's a study of how marine systems thousands of miles apart can affect each other. The gulf and surrounding areas are perfect for this kind of study.
"Looking at the 'Islands in the Stream' map, you can see how the gulf and the surrounding waters are linked," said Mimi Koumanelis, communications officer for the National Geographic Society.
The stream they're studying has a name: the Loop Current. The name may not be very creative, but the research is time-consuming and intricate. The only time taken from their studies and night dives is to come ashore and work with the public.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to combine exploration with science to go places NOAA has never gone before," said Matthew Stout, communications director for NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries. "With this partnership (with National Geographic) we can take the science we have and bring it to the public, to a higher platform."
Last August, while fighting the effects of Hurricane Debby, the Gunter crew docked in Tampa for its West Florida Shelf Open House. The name again is straightforward, but the information to share was anything but.
Up to that point, Earle and her team had found evidence of ancient shorelines submerged thousands of years ago. They found coral that were either calcified skeletons or no longer growing because sunlight couldn't penetrate the added 300 or so feet of water that suddenly flooded the area.
But shells and stones rubbed smooth by crashing waves aren't the only evidence they're looking for. Michael Faught, director of the Underwater Archaeology Field School at Florida State University, is looking for human relics such as arrowheads.
In August of 2000, they visited the drowned coastline on the Madison-Swanson Ridge just south of the Panhandle. Faught wrote in his journal: "It may even be that people once stood here, looking out to sea, watching the sun go down, and never even dreaming that their beach would someday lie far under the sea."
Earle decided to come back this year to find proof of a link in the eco-regions of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic -- perhaps a newly introduced species transported to a region by the currents, or an algae population dwindling because of pollution. Earle is looking for clues all around us.
"Sustainable Seas" will end next year, but the partnerships formed and focus of the mission will continue.
"The mission will probably never be done," Stout said. "NOAA will continue to look into expanding its education and outreach portion and continue working with several of the organizations that were involved in this expedition."
-- Amy Abbott can be reached at (813) 226-3374 or via e-mail at abbott@sptimes.com.
At a glance
WHAT: Tours of the Gordon Gunter and DeepWorker and the chance to meet National Geographic Society explorer in residence Sylvia Earle and scientists
WHEN: noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday WHERE: Port of Tampa's Terminal 6, next to the Florida Aquarium
COST: Free
WEB SITES: www.nationalgeographic.com/seas and www.sustainableseas.noaa.gov
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