{
"data":[
{
"year":"FY24",
"title":"Characterizing Mesophotic Fish Assemblages of Puerto Rico’s Western EEZ",
"piname":"Coleman, Richard R.",
"affiliation":"University of Miami",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Mesophotic (“middle light”) coral ecosystems provide habitat for an array of vulnerable and ecologically and commercially important fish species. At ocean depths between the brightly lit shallows and the dark deep ocean (30-150 meters/98-492 feet) in tropical and subtropical regions, these ecosystems are difficult to access, meaning they’re relatively unexplored, and our knowledge about the fish that inhabit them is limited. Using advanced deep-diving techniques and data collection methods, this research team will explore the mesophotic coral ecosystems off the western coast of Puerto Rico to better understand these ecosystems and how they are used as habitat by their associated fish communities. Technical divers will conduct complementary stereo-video and visual surveys to document fish occurrence, size, and abundance as well as evidence of marine debris, bleaching, disease, and other threats. They’ll also collect samples of select uncommon, rare, and unknown species for further study and water samples for eDNA analysis. The results of this project will inform the conservation and management of Puerto Rico’s mesophotic coral ecosystems and the fish communities they support and serve as a baseline against which to assess future changes."
},
{
"year":"FY24",
"title":"Exploration and Characterization of Deep-Pelagic Crustacean Diversity in the Southern California Exclusive Economic Zone",
"piname":"Choy, C. Anela",
"affiliation":"Scripps Institution of Oceanography",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The deep ocean is the largest living space on Earth, and the deep-pelagic (or water column) species that live there are important food sources for marine predators, including ecologically, culturally, commercially, and recreationally important species. Scientists have much to learn about the biodiversity and ecology of deep-pelagic crustaceans and their associated communities. During this lab-based project, the research team will study the biodiversity of crustaceans collected from the deep waters off Southern California, with a focus on three orders of dominant crustaceans (Decapoda, Lophograstrida, and Mysida). Specifically, they will identify — or document and describe if unknown — recently collected crustaceans from five sites based on their morphology (form and structure). These identifications will be complemented with DNA studies. Using this information, they will characterize crustacean community composition in the study area. Upon completion of their research, they will deposit the samples and the associated genetic material and data in national collections and databases and produce a pictorial guide of deep-pelagic crustaceans. This work will support future water column exploration, research, and monitoring throughout the ocean to help us better understand the value and services of our natural marine resources and inform their sustainable management and use."
},
{
"year":"FY24",
"title":"Exploring the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary at Scale",
"piname":"Green, Russ",
"affiliation":"NOAA Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Well preserved by cold freshwater, the Great Lakes possess some of the most extraordinary potential for archaeological investigation of historic shipwrecks anywhere in the world. Many of these shipwrecks have yet to be discovered or explored. This research team will explore and document a collection of nationally significant shipwrecks — five recently located but not yet documented — in the deep waters (130-480 feet) of Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. They will use a hybrid autonomous underwater vehicle/remotely operated vehicle (AUV/ROV) equipped with novel acoustic, imaging, and laser scanning sensors, and develop new archaeological methods to capitalize on the efficiencies of autonomous and uncrewed vehicles. This project will produce baseline data and information — including still and video imagery and photogrammetric and laser-scan models — that will inform the sanctuary’s monitoring and preservation efforts and contribute to the understanding of the role of the Great Lakes in our nation’s maritime heritage."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"The Aleutian Arc: Integrated Exploration of Biodiversity at Priority Benthic Habitats",
"piname":"Morrison, Cheryl",
"affiliation":"USGS Eastern Ecological Center",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The Aleutian Arc is a volcanic arc that includes a chain of islands extending west from the Alaska Peninsula to international waters. The waters surrounding the Aleutian Islands are vast, and the biological and geological resources within them are ecologically and economically important. But, as of January 2023, only 34% of Alaska’s seafloor has been mapped, and even less has been explored. Much of the deep Aleutian Arc is virtually unknown. To advance our scientific knowledge about this region, where the potential for new discoveries is high, this research team will explore and provide initial characterization of high-priority sites in the central and western Aleutian Islands during a ship- and submersible-based expedition. Research targets for exploration and characterization include coral and sponge communities, volcanoes and other seafloor hazards, gas seeps, hydrothermal vents, and critical mineral deposits. Primary operations will include data collection (e.g., video and biological, geological, and water samples) during submersible dives and seafloor mapping. Results from this expedition will inform natural resource management, protection, and stewardship and hazard assessments, benefitting both Alaskan and national economies as well as human health and safety."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Autonomous Deep-Ocean Exploration of Diverse Habitats Along the Aleutian Margin",
"piname":"Shank, Timothy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The seafloor of the Aleutian margin hosts exotic ecosystems, including methane seeps and deepwater corals, and may also hold critical minerals. Given the importance of these natural resources, the U.S. government identified the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands as a priority for exploration and characterization. Little is known about the diverse ecosystems in these waters, so the potential for scientific discoveries is high, and the need for science to support knowledge-based policies is pressing. To further our understanding of this important region, this team will use cutting-edge tools and approaches, including two autonomous underwater vehicles with imaging and sampling capabilities (including a newly developed deep-sea methane sensor) to geologically, chemically, and biologically map the water column and seafloor along the eastern Aleutian margin. They anticipate discovering new seeps; chemosynthetic, coral, and sponge communities; seafloor minerals; and more. These findings will advance knowledge of the fundamental geological and biological features of the Aleutian margin, direct and inspire further exploration and research, and inform decision-making at the regional and national levels."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Autonomous, Directional Acoustic Profiling Float for Soundscape Characterization",
"piname":"Raghukumar, Kaustubha",
"affiliation":"Integral Consulting Inc.",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Sound is a crucial component of ocean science and stewardship. Deepwater soundscapes can provide insight into marine mammal distributions, seismic and volcanic activity, illegal fishing activity, other human activities, and more. Yet, collecting acoustic data in the deepest and most remote parts of our ocean has historically been difficult, largely due to the challenges of deploying and recovering traditional acoustic sensing equipment in these hard-to-reach places. To advance deepwater soundscape exploration, this research team will develop and demonstrate the first ever first autonomous, near-real-time, directional acoustic profiling float powered by marine renewable energy (ocean thermal energy conversion, OTEC). They will also develop soundscape analysis tools to provide insights into acoustic events of interest recorded by the float. The portable and low-cost float will enable sustained exploration of poorly understood deepwater soundscapes, eventually increasing the amount of global soundscape data — data that will expand the breadth of our deep-ocean knowledge, support biological and hazards monitoring, and inform management and mitigation of ocean noise to eliminate or reduce impacts on marine life."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Autonomous Localization of Seafloor Fluid Flow Sources",
"piname":"Xu, Guangyu",
"affiliation":"University of Washington",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Some of Earth’s most unique habitats exist on the seafloor at sources of fluid discharge such as hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The importance of these systems has been recognized for decades, and improvements have been made in the tools we use to search for them, such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Nevertheless, the methods used for such exploration remain crude, and the reliance on human supervision hinders discovery. To streamline the process of locating seafloor fluid flow sites, this research team will develop a fully autonomous algorithm to enable AUVs to trace biogeochemistry signatures in the water column that are indicative of vents and seeps using real-time data recorded by onboard sensors, independent of human operators. After robust testing, they will demonstrate their approach at an active hydrothermal vent site off the Oregon/Washington coast. This new approach will improve the efficiency of AUV-based exploration and enhance the ability of scientists to conduct other operations at the same time while at sea. Ultimately, it has the potential to improve our knowledge about seafloor vents and seeps and the marine life they support."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Deployable Artificial Intelligence for Exploration and Discovery in the Deep Sea",
"piname":"Katija, Kakani",
"affiliation":"Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"We still have much to learn about our ocean and the animals that live within it. Modern robotics, low-cost observation platforms, and other emerging exploration tools are making underwater imaging easier and more accessible. However, processing all this visual data, particularly data with complex scenes and animals that require expert classifications, is quite resource intensive. This research team will use artificial intelligence (AI) to address this significant obstacle to discovery. Specifically, they will develop software for remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles to detect, track, and classify seafloor and water column animals in underwater video in real time. They will train this “deployable AI” using FathomNet, a publicly available underwater image training set, which they will expand and augment as part of this project, and test it in the waters of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. By automating the collection and real-time analysis of large volumes of underwater visual data by uncrewed underwater vehicles and making the imagery available in a global database, this project will enable scientists, policymakers, and the public to better, and more rapidly, understand the life that inhabits our ocean."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Diversity and Biopharmaceutical Assessments of Deep-Sea, Mineral-Rich Biomes off Southern California",
"piname":"Jensen, Paul",
"affiliation":"Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Deep-ocean invertebrates and microbes hold undetermined biopharmaceutical potential that could drive innovations in biotechnology and advances for human health. Some of these organisms live on or around critical minerals that are increasingly important to modern society. To help us understand the tradeoffs associated with extraction of these minerals, this research team will assess the biodiversity and biopharmaceutical potential of benthic invertebrates and microbes at mineral-rich, deep-ocean sites within the Southern California Borderland (SCB). They will base their assessment on samples (sponges, soft corals, sediment cores, mineral rocks, and water) along with high-resolution video and still photographs collected from the SCB. Their work will establish biotic baselines for invertebrates and microbes in the SCB before any mineral extraction occurs, demonstrate the importance of biodiversity to biopharmaceutical potential, and encourage further academic and industrial biopharmaceutical research in the deep ocean. In addition, it will inform policy decisions regarding management of the SCB’s deep-ocean seafloor resources and mitigation of potential impacts and raise awareness of the potential value of deep-ocean habitats for human health."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Early Encounters on a Western Frontier: The Search for Svyatoy Nikolai (1807-1808) ",
"piname":"Roth, Madeline and Katie Wrubel",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The Svyatoy Nikolai, a survey vessel for the Russian American Company, was lost at the turn of the 19th century in the waters of today's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS). In 1808, the ship and crew (composed of men and women; Russian, English, and Aleut) departed Alaska to map the Pacific coastline and identify potential locations for an Oregon-based colony. The ship was driven ashore and abandoned off the coast of Washington. The stories of the crew and their subsequent interactions with Indigenous communities of the Hoh, Makah, and Quileute tribes provide valuable insight into maritime history in the era of colonization. To better understand the region’s maritime heritage, this research team will search for the remains of Svyatoy Nikolai and other shipwrecks in OCNMS through remote sensing and targeted, noninvasive archaeological surveys. This project will result in baseline data to support monitoring and management of historic sites; develop and strengthen relationships among federal, state, and tribal heritage partners and other stakeholders; and enhance our understanding about the first interactions between Indigenous communities and settlers in the Pacific Northwest."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Exploration of Deepwater Habitats off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for Biotechnology Potential ",
"piname":"Guzman, Esther",
"affiliation":"Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Natural products produced by animals, plants, and microbes on land have long been used as sources of drugs and treatments for human illnesses and diseases. Marine natural products are also potential sources for such drugs and treatments. And now, they are having a growing impact in the field of biotechnology, and biopharmaceuticals in particular. While the potential of marine natural products may be great, access to them for preclinical and clinical investigations is not. This research team will explore and document marine habitats in deepwater areas around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with the goal of collecting marine organisms (e.g., sponges, corals, and microorganisms) that may contain natural products that can be developed into useful pharmaceutical products. Collected samples and subsamples will be stored in and shared via a suite of long-term repositories that will enable future biopharmaceutical research and development. Knowledge gained during and as a result of this work will contribute to the treatment and prevention of existing and emerging illnesses and diseases."
},
{
"year":"FY23",
"title":"Software Tools to Enable Automated Detection of Submerged Archaeological Sites From Multibeam Sonar",
"piname":"Skinner, Katherine A.",
"affiliation":"University of Michigan",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Recent advances in sensor technology and marine robotic systems have resulted in massive amounts of multibeam sonar data. However, finding submerged objects, like shipwrecks, within these data is time consuming and typically requires expert knowledge. This research team will address these challenges by developing a machine learning tool to automate detection and enable discovery of archaeological sites, limiting the need for human input. They will use existing data from Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS), deeper water data collected by NOAA Ocean Exploration on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and known shipwrecks to train and validate their tool. This tool will be integrated into an open-source, GIS-based toolkit. This project will reduce the time and cost required to detect archaeological sites from multibeam sonar data across the maritime heritage community — from the Great Lakes to the deep ocean — enabling discoveries to be made and shared with the scientific community and the public. TBNMS plans to use this tool to search for shipwrecks and other archaeological sites in the sanctuary, where more than 100 known wrecks have yet to be found."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"AUV-Based Acoustic Mapping and Characterization of Seafloor Hydrothermal Discharge",
"piname":"Xu, Guangyu",
"affiliation":"University of Washington",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Hydrothermal vents often feature a variety of unique biological communities and metal-rich deposits, making them important to society and economies. However, most hydrothermal vent sites discovered to date are on the deep-ocean floor at great depths below the sea surface. Because of the inherent difficulties of deep-sea exploration and the inadequacy of existing vent-characterization techniques, the majority of the known hydrothermal vent fields remain poorly studied, and many sites are yet to be discovered. To advance our knowledge about hydrothermal vents, this research team will develop an innovative approach to identifying, locating, and characterizing hydrothermal discharge using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) equipped with coordinated multibeam sonars. After a robust evaluation program, which will include computer simulations and laboratory experiments at an engineering tank facility, the new approach will be demonstrated at an active hydrothermal vent site off the Oregon/Washington coast. Anticipated outputs include seafloor bathymetry, 3D acoustic plume images, quantitative vent maps, and 3D panoramic images of vent sites. By extending the capabilities of AUVs, this project will deliver an efficient approach to collecting comprehensive baseline data about hydrothermal activity needed by researchers and policy makers."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"Characterizing Variability in Pacific Northwest Methane Seeps Using a Fleet of Small AUVs",
"piname":"McNeil, Craig",
"affiliation":"University of Washington",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and it’s released into the ocean from the seafloor as gas bubbles via methane seeps. Despite the prevalence of seeps along continental margins, data is limited, and their impacts on the ocean and atmosphere, both positive and negative, are poorly understood. To advance our knowledge about methane seeps, this research team will develop and demonstrate an approach to efficiently and effectively map and characterize methane seeps over wide areas. This approach will use easily deployable and relatively inexpensive autonomous underwater vehicles equipped with imaging sonars and custom sensors to find and map seeps and measure associated bubbles and dissolved methane right at the source and up through the water column. The team will demonstrate their approach at known seep sites off the coasts of Washington and Oregon with the goal of improving our understanding of how methane from these seeps influences life on the seafloor and in the water column as well as its role in the global carbon cycle."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"Exploring Attu’s Underwater Battlefield and Offshore Environment",
"piname":"Raupp, Jason",
"affiliation":"East Carolina University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Attu in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands is the site of the only World War II (WWII) battle fought on North American soil. In 2019, the Attu Battlefield and associated airfields were incorporated into the Aleutian Islands WWII National Monument. Nevertheless, few people know about the battle, the larger campaign, or their significance to the nation, and Attu’s underwater battlefield is completely undocumented. To bring attention to this chapter in U.S. history, this research team will inventory Attu’s maritime heritage sites. To do so, they will use an innovative synthetic aperture sonar system both towed behind a research vessel and deployed on an uncrewed underwater vehicle to map the seafloor and detect targets. A remotely operated vehicle will be used to capture follow-up video and still photographs. In addition to discovering and documenting WWII maritime heritage sites, this team also seeks to answer questions about Attu’s pre-war maritime history and hire Alaska Native consultants to contribute to our understanding of Attu’s marine environment and the Aleut population displaced by the U.S. government during the war. Finally, this work will provide a foundation for further work to locate missing in action U.S. and Japanese service personnel."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"Exploring the Biodiversity of Remote Pacific Ocean Deep-Sea Coral Communities With eDNA",
"piname":"Everett, Meredith",
"affiliation":"NOAA Northwest Science Fisheries Center",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Deep-sea corals and the animals that live among them are an important component of community biodiversity in the deep-sea worldwide. Despite the growing interest in resource development in the deep ocean, there has been little research on the impacts it may have on deep-sea benthic communities. And, since they’re difficult to access, they’re difficult to study. This research team will use environmental DNA (eDNA) and voucher specimens collected from deep waters around remote islands and seamounts in the Pacific to improve our understanding of the biodiversity and biogeographic boundaries of deep-sea coral communities in the remote tropical region of the Pacific. Their work will involve identifying deep-sea coral species from voucher specimens, developing an eDNA reference database using these specimens, and using this database to analyze eDNA samples collected in deep-sea coral communities across the region. This work will provide protocols and baseline data, which will facilitate further exploration and research and inform management of marine protected areas in the region."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"Exploring Pelagic Biodiversity of the Gulf of Alaska and the Impact of Its Seamounts",
"piname":"Hopcroft, Russell",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The northern Gulf of Alaska is a region of high productivity and supports some of the nation’s largest commercial fisheries. But, ocean warming and deoxygenation are raising concerns about the future of the region’s poorly understood deep waters and the fish and invertebrates that live there. This research team has devised a novel, multipronged exploration program to investigate the diversity and distribution of these deep-ocean animals. Building on previous work, their program includes acoustic, photographic, video, and physical and molecular (DNA) inventories of the small animals (zooplankton and micronekton) in the water column, like fish, crustaceans, gelatinous animals, and squid. Special attention will be given to how seamounts and changing biomass of gelatinous animals (due to a warming ocean) impact water column communities. By integrating state-of-the-art acoustic sensing and sampling methods, including a towed imaging system, this project will add to our understanding of the ecology of the northern Gulf of Alaska, the connections between its shelf and ocean habitats, and its response to changing conditions. It will also help us better manage the important resources provided by the region."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"Exploring Deepwater WWII Battlefields in the Pacific Using Emerging Technologies",
"piname":"McKinnon, Jennifer",
"affiliation":"Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The U.S. victory over Japan in the Battle of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands in 1944 was a decisive moment for World War II (WWII) in the Pacific. Today, the landing beaches for the U.S. invasion are part of a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. Despite their significance, the subsea remains of the battle (shipwrecks, tanks, amphibious vehicles, aircraft, and more) remain unexplored. This research team will use emerging technologies to locate, explore, and characterize the offshore battlefield’s maritime heritage resources. They will apply artificial intelligence to lidar data to locate and identify these resources and use remotely operated vehicle photogrammetric modeling to document them. In addition, at each site they will collect environmental DNA to better understand its biodiversity and employ military veteran divers, as part of a citizen science rehabilitative therapy training program, to gather the data. The results of this project will help marine resource managers understand the socioeconomic value of these important archaeological and biological resources (e.g., for tourism and fisheries) and increase public appreciation and understanding of WWII maritime heritage."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"Guam: A Biogeographic and Maritime Cultural Landscape Exploration of a WWII Amphibious Battlefield",
"piname":"Wright, Anne",
"affiliation":"National Park Service",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"During World War II (WWII), Guam was a strategic military location for both the United States and Japan. In July 1944, U.S. troops invaded and secured the Japanese-held island. There has not been a comprehensive inventory of the submerged resources related to the invasion, but evidence suggests there is likely a significant amount of WWII-related cultural resources on the seafloor near the landing beaches of Asan and Agat (now units of War in the Pacific National Historical Park). This research team will use autonomous underwater and remotely operated vehicles and divers to identify, map, and document submerged resources related to the invasion (e.g., shipwrecks, aircraft, amphibious vehicles, and artillery). They will also assess war-related impacts on the coast, seafloor, and barrier coral reef to investigate how damage to the reef may have impacted the island’s ecosystem and coastal vulnerability. This project will further our understanding of one of the most significant invasions of the WWII Pacific theater as well as how it may have shaped the natural environment in the area today."
},
{
"year":"FY22",
"title":"Machine Learning-Based Automated Detection of Seafloor Gas Seeps",
"piname":"Skarke, Adam",
"affiliation":"Mississippi State University",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Seafloor gas seeps are hotspots of deep-sea biodiversity, an important part of the global carbon cycle, indicators of potential marine geohazards, and an energy production resource. However, the deep ocean is largely unexplored, and most seeps are discovered through manual visual analysis of water column sonar imagery, which is time consuming, costly, and inconsistent, so a lot remains to be learned about their extent, abundance, and contribution to global scale processes. Recognizing the importance of seeps and the significant potential for further seep discovery, this research team will develop an efficient and cost-effective machine learning-based software system to automatically detect gas seeps in mapping sonar water column data. The system, trained and validated using a database of known seeps, will allow detection of seeps in newly collected or archived multibeam sonar water column data and has the potential to rapidly advance the scope and efficiency of global seafloor seep discovery in support of ocean research, resource management, and economic development."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Accelerating Ocean Exploration Through Cloud-Native Processing of Active Ocean Sonar Data",
"piname":"Lee, Wu-Jung",
"affiliation":"University of Washington",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Scientists commonly use active sonar systems to collect data about mid-trophic level animals like zooplankton and small fish, which play an important role in the marine ecosystems. Echosounders, or fish-finders, are high-frequency sonar systems that emit pulses of sound and record the reflections from animals, the seabed, and other objects. These instruments have been proven to be more efficient and effective for collecting data over a large survey area or a long time period than many other sampling methods, such as underwater imaging and net trawls. This technology has been widely adopted by the ocean science and commercial fishing communities and more recently has been integrated with autonomous vehicles, resulting in a massive amount of data. However, these datasets can be difficult to analyze and are often underutilized. This team will address this issue by developing data standards, a streamlined data processing workflow, and software tools that capitalize on recent advancements in cloud computing technologies to efficiently transform large quantities of ocean sonar data into information that is useful for exploring, monitoring, and managing living marine resources."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Field Validation of Novel Low-Cost Underwater Robot for Deepwater Exploration and Characterization",
"piname":"Johnson-Roberson, Matthew",
"affiliation":"University of Michigan",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Deep-sea corals provide habitat for a wide variety of marine life. Despite their importance to the environment, little is known about them and the threats to their survival. Deep-sea data collection is expensive, and annotation and analysis of underwater imagery is time consuming. To help advance the protection of deep-sea coral ecosystems, this team will improve and validate a new, low-cost, open-source, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and develop automatic annotation software. They will test the AUV and collect data at a site in Hawaiian waters that is known for its high diversity and density of corals. Data collected will be used to generate photometric 3D reconstructions of the seafloor and for the development of the software. This project will benefit the scientific community in two key ways: It will make deep-sea exploration more accessible to the larger scientific community and will increase the speed of data analysis and availability."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Illuminating Pelagic and Benthic Biodiversity in Deep Waters of Puerto Rico",
"piname":"Quattrini, Andrea",
"affiliation":"Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Deepwater habitats off the coast of Puerto Rico, including submarine canyons, ridges, and banks, are likely home to a wide variety of marine life, including commercially important species and species new to science. Yet, these habitats remain some of the least explored areas of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. To better understand the biodiversity from the surface to the seafloor and what shapes it, this research team will use new technologies for water sampling, soft-bodied animal collection, low-light imaging, and 3D/virtual reality imaging to explore and characterize Puerto Rico’s deep sea. Data collected will serve as a baseline to detect and address future changes to better preserve the long-term health of the region’s vulnerable marine ecosystems and fisheries."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Machine Learning for Automated Detection of Shipwreck Sites From Large Area Robotic Surveys",
"piname":"Skinner, Katherine A.",
"affiliation":"University of Michigan",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Shipwrecks can help us better understand our past, but finding and exploring them is time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive, so most of their tales remain untold. This team aims to increase the efficiency and decrease the costs associated with such exploration efforts (and ocean exploration in general) by advancing the autonomous capabilities of underwater vehicles to search for and survey shipwreck sites. To limit the need for human input, they will develop machine learning methods to detect shipwreck sites from sonar data and develop capabilities that enable underwater vehicles to automatically adapt their routes while exploring sites of interest. To test these approaches, the team will use an autonomous underwater vehicle to search for and survey known and potential shipwreck sites in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron. Data collected will inform the management and conservation of these important sanctuary resources."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Marine Archaeological Investigation and Mapping of the Paleo-Suwannee River, Eastern Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Lecours, Vincent ",
"affiliation":"University of Florida",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Humans have lived in Florida for at least 14,550 years. By studying sites once occupied by the Paleoindians — the first people to enter and inhabit the Americas — we can improve our understanding of how they got here, how they survived, and how they adapted to environmental changes like sea-level rise. However, much remains to be learned, and these sites are difficult to identify and access. By combining approaches from remote sensing, archaeology, and seafloor mapping to explore the Paleo-Suwannee River channel off Florida’s Gulf of Mexico Coast, this team aims to identify and characterize areas of high archaeological significance to inform their future management and conservation. In addition, they will use innovative marine habitat mapping approaches and test new remote sensing methods to improve the discovery and characterization of archaeological sites."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Microbial Ecosystem Services on Seamounts Around Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument",
"piname":"Orcutt, Beth N. ",
"affiliation":"Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Polymetallic ferromanganese crusts found on seamounts frequently include critical minerals that are used in consumer electronics, defense, renewable energy industries, and more. As demand for these resources increases, so does interest in mining them. Yet, little is known about the characteristics of these crusts and the microorganisms that live on and within them. To better understand how these resources interact and their associated ecosystems, this team will explore and characterize mineral and microbial resources of seamounts within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument that are expected to have high critical mineral content. This project will result in important baseline information regarding the mineral resource potential as well as the parallel living resources of these seamounts and will be used to inform their sustainable use and conservation. This project will be done in partnership with Ocean Exploration Trust."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Multi-Tiered Autonomous Vehicle-Based Survey of New and Proposed Great Lakes National Marine Sanctuaries",
"piname":"Green, Russ",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Marine transport on the Great Lakes played a central role in the exploration, settlement, economic expansion, and industrialization of the nation. The estimated 6,000 shipwrecks across the five Great Lakes can help us better understand that role. Many of these shipwrecks have yet to be discovered and explored. This team will use an uncrewed aerial vehicle, an autonomous surface vehicle, and an autonomous underwater vehicle to search for shipwrecks at sites within the boundaries of the new Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast (Lake Michigan) and proposed Lake Ontario national marine sanctuaries. Their work, which could include discovery of nationally significant historic sites, such as 18th and 19th century shipwrecks and War of 1812 artifacts, will add to our knowledge of America’s past maritime-based economic activities in the Great Lakes and generate valuable new data products to support resource management efforts, including the establishment and management of national marine sanctuaries."
},
{
"year":"FY21",
"title":"Our Submerged Past: Exploring Inundated Late Pleistocene (10,600 - 17,000 years ago) Caves in Southeast Alaska with SUNFISH",
"piname":"Richmond, Kristof ",
"affiliation":"Sunfish, Inc.",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Evidence suggests that humans have made the northwest coast of North America their home for at least 17,000 years. The land these First Peoples inhabited is now underwater. Tangible evidence of their presence should be preserved in submerged caves and rock shelters, but these features are difficult to access and have not been formally explored. To learn more about how and when people migrated to the Americas, this team will search for evidence of human occupation on the continental shelf of southeast Alaska in an area that has not been accessible to humans for over 10,000 years. Using the SUNFISH autonomous underwater vehicle, which is designed to operate in complex 3D undersea environments, the team will explore, map, and collect sediment samples from submerged caves and rock shelters. They will then analyze the data and samples collected to further inform our understanding of the past, both human and environmental."
},
{
"year":"FY20",
"title":"Coordinated Simultaneous Physical-Biological Sampling by ADCP-equipped Ocean Gliders",
"piname":"Lee, Wu-Jung",
"affiliation":"University of Washington",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Despite their critical role in marine ecosystems, the economy, and our food supply chain, midtrophic-level animals like zooplankton and small fish , which are both predators and prey, are among the least understood animals in the ocean. Currently, researchers lack the tools they need to effectively study these animals at large spatial and temporal scales. To address this gap, this research team will develop new ways for long-term, large-scale data collection related to these important resources. Operating in Juan de Fuca Canyon offshore Washington, the team will equip autonomous underwater gliders with acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs). These instruments are usually used to measure the speed and direction of ocean currents, but they can also be used to detect and quantify animals as they move through the water column. The team will demonstrate how ADCPs can be used to simultaneously collect needed physical and biological data in a manner that is easier and cheaper than current ship-based efforts. This project will deliver broadly adoptable ways to collect, process, and analyze data about these midtrophic animals and has the potential to greatly advance the study of living marine resources. By providing a more complete picture of the ecosystem, these new technologies and processes will better enable resource managers to make policy decisions that support sustainable resource management."
},
{
"year":"FY20",
"title":"Deepwater AUV Surveys of WWII U.S. Cultural Assets in the Saipan Channel",
"piname":"Terrill, Eric ",
"affiliation":"Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"During World War II, U.S. airbases in the Northern Mariana Islands played a pivotal role in the war outcome by supporting thousands of B-29 aircraft flying long-range bombing missions to Japan. Several military planes crashed in nearby waters. The research team will explore the waters off Tinian and Saipan to locate and document U.S. planes (mostly B-29s) lost during the war. Their work will build on existing data, most notably U.S. Navy and NOAA seafloor maps that led to the discovery of a B-29 by researchers on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer in 2016. The team will use state-of-the-art scientific methods and technologies, including shipboard systems; a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with side-scan sonars, light imaging capabilities, a sub-bottom profiler, and multibeam sonar; and a remotely operated vehicle to conduct archeological surveys, map the seafloor in the region, and characterize the neighboring seabed habitat. This project will provide an inventory of aircraft crash sites off Tinian and Saipan and data for site management and preservation; advance the efficiency, accuracy, and cost effectiveness of deepwater archaeology; and promote an increased awareness of maritime cultural heritage through technologies that make underwater sites remotely accessible (e.g., 3-D models). Finally, it will document and honor the final resting place of 76 U.S. service members who lost their lives in these waters."
},
{
"year":"FY20",
"title":"Discovering the Submerged Prehistory of the Alpena-Amberley Ridge in Central Lake Huron",
"piname":"O'Shea, John",
"affiliation":"University of Michigan",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Now submerged beneath Lake Huron, the Alpena-Amberley Ridge was once a dry land corridor that divided the lake in two. Researchers have found evidence of human occupation on the ridge dating back 10,000 years, including stone hunting structures that are among the oldest dated examples on the planet. Building on previous work, the research team will explore the ridge, part of which lies in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This project has three primary components: mapping, site identification/documentation, and model assessment. The research team will produce a 3-D representation of the ancient landscape and its environment and use mapping data to target features of potential archaeological interest for investigation with a remotely operated vehicle and by scuba-trained archaeologists. They will also evaluate a model designed to predict the location of underwater cultural resources in the region. This project has the potential to greatly enhance our understanding of early human occupation of the Great Lakes region and provide important information to aid in managing the unique cultural resources preserved beneath Lake Huron. In addition, it will be incorporated into Science in the Sanctuary, a local public school program, and serve as the basis for a traveling museum exhibit highlighting the archaeological finds and the underwater landscape of the Alpena-Amberley Ridge."
},
{
"year":"FY20",
"title":"Paleolandscapes, Paleoecology, and Cultural Heritage on the Southern California Continental Shelf",
"piname":"Gusick, Amy ",
"affiliation":"Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County",
"topic":"Archaeology/ Technology",
"abstract":"Archaeological evidence found at coastal sites in Southern California suggests the region was once populated by early maritime hunter-gatherers and that similar sites, inundated by sea-level rise approximately 20,000-8,000 years ago, are likely to also exist on the seafloor. Building off their previous work, the research team will search for and study ancient landforms, unique environmental features, and archaeological sites on the submerged landscape of the Southern California continental shelf. Using both traditional (sub-bottom sonar) and emerging methods (controlled source electromagnetic technology), the team will map the seafloor in the project area to identify features that may have once attracted occupation, like ancient channels and estuaries and tar seep deposits. They will use this information to target sites for exploration and sample collection with a remotely operated vehicle. The researchers will incorporate findings into existing maps and models to improve understanding of the project area’s ancient landscape, how it changed over time, and the reasons for those changes, as well as the importance of the region in the history of human migration to the Americas. Findings will also be used to inform the protection of the region’s archaeologically and biologically sensitive landscapes."
},
{
"year":"FY20",
"title":"Searching for Serpentinization-Driven Hydrothermal Activity on Oceanic Core Complexes of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge\n",
"piname":"Butterfield, David A.",
"affiliation":"NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and University of Washington",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"In 2000, the discovery of the Lost City hydrothermal vent field near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge revealed a new kind of hydrothermal system driven by serpentinization, a heat-producing chemical reaction between seawater and mantle rocks. This type of venting is not well documented or understood. To learn more about it, this research team will explore areas of the seafloor near the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge where mantle rocks are exposed (oceanic core complexes) and serpentinization-driven hydrothermal venting is likely. They will use ship-based multibeam mapping to guide operations; conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) systems to detect signs of venting in the water column (e.g., physical or chemical changes); two autonomous underwater vehicles to locate the vents themselves; and a remotely operated vehicle to collect additional data, including imagery and samples of fluids, rocks, and marine life. With this research, the team aims to improve understanding of the prevalence and geochemical and ecological significance of this form of hydrothermal activity. In addition, the team will explore two volcanically driven hydrothermal fields on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis to determine the presence and chemistry of active vents and the makeup of the biological communities they support as they relate to proposed international mining activities and habitat connectivity."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"Benthic Communities and Their Biopharmaceutical Potential Across Mineral-rich Biomes off Southern California",
"piname":"Levin, Lisa A. and Paul Jensen",
"affiliation":"Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Demand for access to deepwater mineral resources is growing. This growth is accompanied by the need for environmental management as exploitation of minerals may come at a cost to other ecosystem functions and services. To help inform resource use decisions, the research team generated baseline information for two poorly explored, mineral-rich ecosystems containing phosphorites and iron-manganese crusts (two resources of considerable economic interest) in the Southern California Borderland (SCB). Through extensive video, still photos, and sample collection, they characterized fish and benthic megafauna and macrofauna supported by these habitats, including infauna and invertebrates attached to mineral surfaces. They also characterized the associated microbial communities with sediment and mineral surfaces as well as invertebrate-associated microbes. In addition, the team explored the natural product biosynthetic potential of these sites. These explorations included state-of-the-art metagenomic and metabolomic techniques and tested extracts generated from sponges, corals, and other SCB marine invertebrates for pharmaceutically relevant biological activities. Their results raised awareness of the biotic diversity and biopharmaceutical potential in the borderland and provided critical information needed for future decision making and impact assessments should these deep-sea habitats be considered for development."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"Bioprospecting for Industrial Enzymes and Drug Lead Compounds in an Ancient Submarine Forest",
"piname":"Distel, Daniel L.",
"affiliation":"Northeastern University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"As demand grows for discovery of novel industrial enzymes and new medicines, researchers are increasingly turning toward marine sources. To that end, this research team systematically explored the diversity and economic potential of a submerged prehistoric bald cypress forest off the coast of Alabama. They aimed to describe this unexplored ecosystem and assess the potential of this biodiverse microbiome as a target for the directed discovery of biomolecules of high biopharmaceutical and biotechnological value. Their emphasis was on bacterial species associated with wood-eating teredinid bivalves (or “shipworms”). The research team collected, identified, georeferenced, vouchered, and subsampled these species for microbial cultivation and genomic and metagenomic analyses. In addition, they performed biochemical and growth inhibition assays and bioinformatic analyses to identify analgesic and antimicrobial compounds and hydrolytic enzymes capable of degrading the components of wood. Such enzymes have broad application in production of pulp, paper, textiles, food, animal feeds, fine chemicals, and renewable fuels. This exploration project laid the groundwork for understanding and exploiting similar communities as sources of new compounds for medicine and biotechnology. To enhance the value of their exploratory efforts, the researchers aimed to create effective tools and resources to support future discovery and education."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"Exploring the Blue Economy Biotechnology Potential of Deepwater Habitats",
"piname":"Wright, Amy E.",
"affiliation":"Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Natural products produced by marine plants, invertebrates, and microbes are increasingly relevant in the field of biopharmaceuticals. To further the work in this area, the research team explored deepwater habitats adjacent to the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico with the goal of identifying marine organisms that contain novel bioactive natural products that can be translated into useful pharmaceutical products or biomedical research tools. The research team used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to collect benthic specimens with high potential for biopharmaceutical discovery, including sponges, octocorals, black corals, algae, and select scleractinian corals. They subsampled the specimens for taxonomic reference samples, genetic analyses, and biomedical analyses. The researchers also used the ROV to document the habitats they explored and the animals they collected with video and still photography. In addition, to support collaboration and future research, the team developed resources for long-term use in biopharmaceutical and other Blue Economy discovery efforts. These resources included a frozen specimen library, an enriched chemical library, a microbial culture library, a DNA library, and a bank of cryopreserved sponge cultures."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Quicksands Archaeological Survey",
"piname":"Lawrence, Matthew",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Over the past five centuries, many vessels have been lost among the shoals and shallow reefs of the “Quicksands,” an area between the Marquesas Keys and the Dry Tortugas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). Despite its high potential for historically significant shipwrecks and the numerous commercial treasure hunting activities taking place there, the Quicksands area has not been systematically explored, and very little is known about its archaeological resources. This team of archaeologists and ecologists conducted a maritime archaeological mapping and diving survey to locate and document archaeological sites and identify associated biological resources. The research team gathered baseline ecological data about marine life in, on, and in the immediate surroundings of their discoveries. This enabled them to assess the impact of artificial hard-bottom structures in a dynamic marine environment where there were few natural hard-bottom habitats. It also helped them better understand the area in the context of its particular conditions and its location between the highly protected reefs of the Dry Tortugas and the rest of the Florida reef tract. FKNMS managers used project results to support future management decisions and studies of the area’s archaeological and biological resources. This included making decisions about treasure salvage permitting and preventing related environmental impacts."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"Gradients of Blue Economic Resources in and Around Deep-sea Methane Seeps ",
"piname":"Thurber, Andrew",
"affiliation":"Oregon State University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Once thought to be rare, scientists have identified more than 2,500 methane seeps on the U.S. Cascadia margin off the Oregon and Washington coasts. Only a handful of these have been studied. To expand our knowledge about the role of methane seeps in the ocean ecosystem, the resources they host, and the economic potential of these resources, the research team combined a suite of established and emerging technologies to explore recently discovered deep-sea methane seeps within this region. To do so, the team sampled background habitats and seeps and undertook a gradient analysis to better quantify the footprint of seeps, the resources they provide, and their interactions with the broader ecosystem of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. They analyzed the samples collected for various resources, including biopharmaceutical or biotechnological compounds and rare earth elements. Through this work, the team hoped to inform economic growth and sustainable marine resource management as they relate to both emerging (e.g., hydrate, oil and gas, and mineral mining) and existing (e.g., fishing) uses. This included providing resource managers with more information about how emerging resource extraction scenarios might affect regional ecosystem services (e.g., fisheries production)."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"Shoals and Shipwrecks: Archaeological Explorations off Port Royal Sound, South Carolina",
"piname":"Spirek, James D.",
"affiliation":"South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Historical research suggests that at least 40 shipwrecks lay near or on the shoals fringing the entrance channel to Port Royal Sound, South Carolina. These shipwrecks include the French corsair, Le Prince; a British warship, the HMS Colibri; and the Union merchant bark Marcia. The research team seeked to continue and expand efforts to locate shipwrecks such as these and other structures, sites, and objects of archaeological and historical significance in the area. With this award, they aimed to support preservation efforts by recording and identifying their discoveries, enabling more in depth investigations and mitigation in the future. The team used advanced marine remote-sensing technology and visual inspections in the search area, which included both state and federal waters. They complemented this work with historical research to develop the maritime historical context of the region. In addition to filling in knowledge gaps regarding the region’s historical maritime activities (e.g., transport, trade, and warfare), findings from this project also informed state and federal seafloor management decisions. Resource managers used this information to balance uses and minimize conflicts between the preservation of these archaeological remnants and competing interests in the area’s mineral resources (e.g., beach quality sand needed to rebuild local beaches)."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"The Search for Norlindo—The First World War II Casualty in the Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Macelloni, Leonardo",
"affiliation":"University of Southern Mississippi",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"On May 4, 1942, the U.S. freighter Norlindo became the first ship lost to Germany’s World War II campaign in the Gulf of Mexico. The research team planned to locate, explore, and document the wreckage of this significant archaeological resource in an underexplored area of the eastern Gulf where little is known about the nature and preservation status of World War II casualties. By doing so, they shed light on the Gulf’s unique history and inform the ship’s status as a potential environmental hazard and its eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The research team conducted a high-resolution acoustic survey in the area of Norlindo’s last known position, about 80 miles northwest of the Dry Tortugas islands, collecting bathymetric and water column data. They also produced a benthic habitat map that incorporated microbiological data acquired by sampling water, sediment, and wreck debris. This project improved understanding about how steel historic shipwrecks from World War II shape seafloor biogeography and biodiversity. In addition, the team developed a project-focused, one-week Gulf Exploration Camp designed to engage high school students from across the country in the maritime history and ecology of the Gulf of Mexico."
},
{
"year":"FY19",
"title":"Wimble Shoals: An Exploration and Characterization of Submerged Cultural and Sediment Resources",
"piname":"Hoyt, Joseph",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"North Carolina is notorious for its dangerous shoals. Among them is Wimble Shoals, off northern Hatteras Island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, which contains important cultural resources and habitats. The research team surveyed the shoals, both above and below the seafloor, to search for maritime heritage resources. Several historic shipwrecks are believed to be on or within the sediments of Wimble Shoals. One of these shipwrecks is the British tanker SS Mirlo, which was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I. A primary target for this expedition, the Mirlo is important to understanding World War I in the region, and the rescue of personnel from the Mirlo by the crew of the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station is of special significance to the history of the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Lifesaving Service. Discovery of the Mirlo would also help inform a proposed expansion of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. The team also studied the shoals’ natural resources, both the biological resources (on the seafloor, in the water column, and on and around the shipwrecks) and the sediments. The shoals have been identified as a potential source of sand for beach nourishment projects. The results of this expedition provided resource managers with information about how these sediments impact the shoals’ cultural and living resources."
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Advances in Deep Sea Sampling with Soft Robotics",
"piname":"Licht, Stephen",
"affiliation":"University of Rhode Island",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Soft robots and compliant manipulators have been shown to dramatically simplify the problem of grasping complex objects without exerting undue force on the object or its surroundings. As a result, robots are increasingly being used for gentle and precise grasping tasks. However, many of the compliant mechanisms that have been developed for use in air are pressure intolerant, unsuited for use in water, or unable to withstand repeated deployment and recovery at sea. The proposed effort advanced soft robotic manipulator systems technology suitable for selective sample recovery from sensitive cultural and biological sites, a key area of ocean exploration science. This project demonstrated a novel hybrid soft robotic gripper and a next-generation drive mechanism that will enable the precise control of seawater hydraulics for soft manipulation and that are inherently safe, reliable, and robust for deepwater deployment. "
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Advancing eDNA as a Tool for Exploration in Deepwater Environments",
"piname":"McDermott, Jill",
"affiliation":"Lehigh University",
"topic":"Technology/ Exploration",
"abstract":"Organisms continuously shed cells and leak DNA into their surrounding environment. This study developed a framework to establish environmental (e)DNA metabarcoding as a standard ocean exploration tool that will enable rapid, economic, and comprehensive diversity assessments of deepwater fauna. As such, eDNA is an emerging non-invasive methodology for capturing and sequencing this DNA to rapidly explore and characterize biodiversity of an area. There are two urgent challenges to interpret eDNA sequence data obtained from deep seawater samples: 1) Understanding the temporal persistence of eDNA in the environment and 2) Performing taxonomic identification assignments for eDNA metabarcode sequences. To address these critical challenges that currently limit the use of eDNA approaches in deepwater ecosystems, this work: 1) Quantified and predicted the temporal persistence of eDNA in laboratory aquaria under a range of deepwater environmental conditions; 2) Tested the eDNA metabarcoding framework in a relatively well-characterized setting (Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Gulf of Mexico); 3) Explored biodiversity in unknown or poorly known areas in the Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ); and 4) Improved the DNA barcode databases for corals and fishes from the Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern U.S. EEZ. The development of eDNA technology will greatly enhance our ability to explore the ocean."
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"From Aggregations to Individuals: Exploring Migrating Deep Sea Scattering Layers Through Multiscale-Multimode Technologies in the Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Boswell, Kevin",
"affiliation":"Florida International University",
"topic":"Technology/ Exploration",
"abstract":"The proposed exploration addressed sampling resolution constraints by providing multi-scale observations of migrating Scattering Layers (SLs) in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), obtaining simultaneous measurements of individual through aggregation dynamics using a suite of sensors on autonomous platforms. This study explored GoM mesopelagic communities using emerging acoustic and optical sensors on autonomous platforms to discover the dynamics of these animal communities within the complex oceanography of the GoM. Specific objectives were to: 1) integrate a high-resolution, wideband echosounder within an ocean glider to explore migrating animals within mesopelagic SLs; 2) develop “on-board” acoustic data processing to facilitate adaptive exploration of migrating SL communities; and 3) integrate a swarm (about five) high-resolution autonomous optical profilers to derive non-invasive in situ validation of individuals comprising migrating SLs."
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Optical Sensing of Ocean Gasses Using Hollow Core Fibers",
"piname":"Michel, Anna",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"This work included the design, development, and field testing of a miniature ultrasensitive dissolved gas sensor that can measure carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in situ, utilizing photothermal interferometry (PTI), an optical absorption gas detection technique. This sensor was developed for deepwater applications and allowed scientists to measure these important gases without the need for physical samples. The sensor was low-cost (under $10,000); small (a “soda can” size instrument); and designed for deployment using a range of platforms including remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), landers, and surface vehicles. Operating this sensor on an AUV would enable three-dimensional chemical mapping of CH4 and CO2 in the deep ocean. Future system generations will look to also measure other important gases including N2O, NO, NH3, and H2S. The proposed project was interdisciplinary as it couples engineering, optics, and chemical sensing to develop an innovative exploration technology."
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Microbial Stowaways: Exploring Shipwreck Microbiomes in the Deep Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Hamdan, Leila",
"affiliation":"University of Southern Mississippi",
"topic":"Archaeology/ Exploration",
"abstract":"The geological processes that formed the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) carved canyons, escarpments, and seeps led to the formation of specialized habitats. Exploration of the biogeography of these natural habitats has not addressed the more recently formed shipwreck habitats on the seafloor. More than 2,000 shipwrecks spanning 500 years of history were lost in the GoM. Shipwrecks become artificial reefs and islands of diversity. Macro-organism biogeography is known to be shaped by the island effect of shipwrecks in conjunction with currents. However, the effect historic shipwrecks impart on microbiomes and how they shape microbial biogeography has never been explored. The proposed work used a cross-disciplinary approach to explore how shipwrecks and seafloor hydrodynamics shaped deep-sea microbiomes and placed the remote seafloor in context with contemporary change. The work mapped wreck-associated microbiomes (diversity, richness) in benthic and pelagic habitats. This study benefited from an established, interdisciplinary team (microbial ecologists and archaeologists) engaged in deep-sea shipwreck research in the northern GoM."
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Exploration of the Deep Ocean with Teams of Long-Endurance Ocean Robots",
"piname":"Jakuba, Michael",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"This project generated transects of deep physical oceanography and hydrothermal plume activity along the ridge axis sufficient to identify seafloor vents to within one kilometer. The project team performed an autonomous exploration to map hydrothermal activity along the 200-kilometer extent of the Gorda Ridge. Existing maps of venting along the Gorda Ridge provided ground truthing against which to validate the results. The work included: building and installing OWTT-iUSBL units on two University of Washington Deepgliders and the associated acoustics on a Waveglider, installing on the gliders a suite of chemical sensors suited to the detection of hydrothermal effluent, deploying the system and managing it from shore, and finally recovering all three vehicles. Vehicle coordination algorithms were also developed to maintain acoustic contact among the robots during the survey. At the conclusion of the project, two Deepglider-compatible OWTT-iUSBL units will exist to enable future exploration and the OWTT-iUSBL system design and algorithms will also transfer to future multi-vehicle teams. Although the project focused on hydrothermal exploration, the system will also enable infrastructure-free measurements of deep currents (by using OWTT-iUSBL position fixes similarly to how shallow gliders use GPS fixes today to estimate and average current between surfacings)."
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Exploration and Characterization of Fine-Scale Physical-Biogeochemical Environment Over Deep Coral Reefs on the West Florida Slope Using Integrated ROV-Lander-Sensor Systems",
"piname":"Wang, Zhaohui Aleck",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology/ Exploration",
"abstract":"Variability of carbonate chemistry and other environmental conditions surrounding deep-sea corals potentially plays an important role in the biology of these deep corals and their responses to unprecedented anthropogenic changes. Understanding of these dynamics and responses are critical for long-term adaptation and survival of deep corals. To fill in this knowledge gap, this project proposed to conduct a comprehensive multi-disciplinary study to explore and characterize two deep coral habitats with contrasting benthic communities on the west Florida slope of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). A newly developed in situ DIC-pH sensor, Channelized Optical System (CHANOS), along with additional pCO2, pH, and other sensors, were deployed on a remotely operated vehicle to map and fully resolve the carbonate system at the two deep coral sites by simultaneously measuring desired CO2 parameter pairs (DIC-pH and DIC-pCO2) with high resolutions (meters). Two newly developed landers equipped with state of-the-art sensors were deployed at the two sites over six to eight months to capture fine-scale temporal variability (hours) of carbonate chemistry and other key parameters. This was also accompanied by in situ experiments on deep coral growth and skeletal dissolution. This study was the first to document such fine-scale variability around deep reef systems in the eastern GOM. "
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Paleolandscapes and the ca. 8,000 BP Shoreline, Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf",
"piname":"Evans, Amanda",
"affiliation":"Coastal Environments, Inc. ",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The project included geophysical surveys and sediment coring, centered in, but not restricted to, the High Island federal lease area. The resulting data was used to create baseline characterizations of, and delineate archaeological horizons within, the paleolandscape associated with the shoreline stand ca. 8,000 years BP. These spatial and temporal survey areas were selected due to the previous identification of a probable midden feature and archaeological horizon offshore from cores acquired in the Sabine Pass and High Island areas, from depths of approximately 15 meters below sea level. The preliminary search area was defined using three key locations associated with potential Paleoindian and Early Archaic occupation and exploitation of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS): the Sabine Pass core, the High Island core, and the 32 kilometers stretch of McFaddin Beach, Texas, where over 880 artifacts have washed ashore over the years, the majority of which are Paleoindian. The proposed scope of work was focused on this initial search area, which represents approximately 234 miles squared on the OCS."
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Combining Habitat Suitability and Physical Oceanography Models for Targeted Discovery of New Benthic Communities on the West Florida Slope",
"piname":"Brooke, Sandra",
"affiliation":"Florida State University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Unlike the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), there has been little research effort in the eastern Gulf of Mexico; however, in recent years, several cruises have involved mapping and surveying the west Florida slope (WFS) and revealed extensive deep coral habitats, including large Lophelia reefs. Pressure to protect deep-sea coral habitats has created a need to understand their distribution. To overcome the lack of data, Habitat Suitability Models were developed. These models may be further refined by incorporating current speed and data from oceanographic models. The proposed project focused on the deep (greater than 1,000 meters) habitats and associated communities of the WFS. Both available habitat suitability modeling as well as a high-resolution oceanographic model were used to select target study sites and validate the oceanographic model in a novel approach using meiofaunal communities. The project generated new information on deep coral habitats and associated communities using digital imagery and identify species assemblages using morphological taxonomy and genetic techniques. In collaboration with NOAA, the obtained data and the high-resolution oceanographic model will refine the coral predictive habitat models for deeper portions of the GOM. "
},
{
"year":"FY18",
"title":"Development of Innovative Techniques for Exploring Novel Submarine Springs on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf ",
"piname":"Hall, Emily",
"affiliation":"Mote Marine Laboratory",
"topic":"Technology/ Exploration",
"abstract":"Offshore submerged sinkhole and spring features have received limited scientific study as they frequently exceed normal scuba limits, reaching depths of greater than 130 meters, and exhibit openings too small for access with many submersibles. These blue holes host several commercially important fish species and can be considered ecological hotspots with respect to species composition and diversity. Because of groundwater discharge, the organic matter deposition, and circulation regimes, parameters such as temperature, salinity, light, turbidity, circulation, dissolved oxygen, pH, redox, trace metal and carbonate chemistry, and sediment types are heterogeneous and satisfy various biological niches. The principal objectives of this work was to: 1) repurpose and repackage existing high-tech marine biogeochemical instrumentation for the purpose of creating a benthic lander appropriate for efficient exploration of these difficult-to-access environments; 2) show proof-of-concept by deploying the platform in conjunction with more frequent macrofauna surveys, genomics, and geochemical sampling of two known blue holes at depths greater than 100 meters; and 3) disseminate exciting data and images through innovative means that will immediately captivate the minds of the public and garner future interest from scientists."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"Exploration of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Structure on Seamounts in the Western Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ)",
"piname":"Drazen, Jeffrey",
"affiliation":"University of Hawaii at Manoa",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The biodiversity and ecosystem structure of the Western of Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ) seamounts were contrasted to benthic habitats on the surrounding abyssal seafloor to explore the characteristic biodiversity. This helped to elucidate the seamounts’ potential as refugia and larval sources for abyssal-plain biota that could be devastated by mining (e.g., nodule dwelling fauna). The field program for this project involved baseline characterization of key biotic components at the bentho-pelagic interface, specifically demersal zooplankton, epibenthic megafauna, and mobile scavengers. The proposed approach provided a first look at ecosystems never before explored and ones that could face large anthropogenic disturbances in the deep sea."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"Submerged Cultural Resource Survey of the Kiska Island National Historic Landmark Maritime Battlefield",
"piname":"Terrill, Eric",
"affiliation":"Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Kiska, Alaska, remains one of the best-preserved historic battlefields from World War II (WWII), being one of only two battlefields world-wide where neither previous nor later settlement obscured military developments. This project involved exploration of the waters off Kiska, Alaska, to locate and document WWII-era submerged cultural resources. This effort built on existing archaeological and historical data to explore one of the least studied, yet most significant campaigns of WWII."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"Aviators Down! The Search for Tuskegee and Free French World War II Aircraft in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary",
"piname":"Lusardi, Wayne",
"affiliation":"NOAA, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Nearly 200 military aircraft were lost in the Great Lakes during World War II (WWII). The vast majority of losses occurred in lower Lake Michigan where Navy aviators attempted to qualify for carrier takeoffs and landings. The Army also lost pilots and aircraft in Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron. Dozens of foreign pilots including French and Norwegian exiles training in North America were also lost over waters in the Great Lakes. Although many of the WWII aircrafts wrecked in the Great Lakes have been recovered, the majority have not yet been found. The goals for this project were to emphasize the importance of WWII-related cultural heritage within and adjacent to Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary; develop archaeological survey methodologies to locate and characterize small, disarticulated aircraft sites; and create and develop new partnerships between NOAA and other academic and governmental agencies that will facilitate the exploration and characterization of Lake Huron’s maritime and aviation heritage."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"3D “Seismic Oceanography”: The New Frontier in Ocean Water-Column Exploration",
"piname":"Macelloni, Leonardo",
"affiliation":"University of Mississippi National Center for Physical Acoustics",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Recent works have shown that marine seismic reflection profiling, a technique commonly used by geophysicists and geologists to image the Earth beneath the seafloor, can produce surprisingly detailed images of thermohaline intrusions, internal waves, and small-scale eddies within the entire water column. The discovery of seismic reflections from the water-column and the ability to image large volumes of the ocean at full depth and at high lateral resolution is opening new possibilities for imaging the structure of the ocean with “seismic oceanography”. This project aimed to perform the first seismic water-column study using a three-dimensional seismic volume acquired in 900 meters water depth within the Gulf of Mexico."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"Towards Shipless Interactive Ocean Exploration Through Advanced Human Robot Interaction",
"piname":"Kaiser, Carl and Michael Jakuba",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"This project sought to take an important step toward revolutionizing our methods of ocean exploration: to wean us away from expeditionary investigations that rely on large individual research ships, while simultaneously probing deeper into the ocean interior. Moving toward global scale exploration of the deep ocean interior will require innovative uses of collaborative robotics, blending layered autonomy with an increasingly sophisticated use of underwater communications and telepresence to keep the human explorers in the loop, but move them to shore. The goals of the project were to demonstrate an immediate path to increase the pace of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)-based ocean exploration; demonstrate a path towards rapid reduction of reliance on manned surface vessels and a means to make much more efficient use of manned surface vessels where needed; demonstrate the use of the co-exploration model as an accelerated means of deploying advanced autonomy; and generate a set of tools for co-exploration that can be ported to other AUVs."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"Instrumentation to Assess the Untainted Microbiology of the Deep-Ocean Water Colum",
"piname":"Bartlett, Douglas",
"affiliation":"Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"A fundamental property of life in the sea is that with increasing depth must come increased adaptation to elevated hydrostatic pressures. The effects of high pressure have been most thoroughly investigated in microorganisms, where it has been found to affect membrane integrity and transport, cytoskeletal assembly, and both DNA and protein synthesis. This project aimed to develop technology for the retrieval of deep seawater samples at in situ conditions and to validate its impact with regards to the accurate characterization of microbial abundance, activity, and biodiversity in samples from depths reaching greater than 8,000 meters at the Atacama (Peru-Chile) Trench."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"The Sigsbee Deep Expedition",
"piname":"Johnsen, Sonke",
"affiliation":"Duke University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Below 1,000 meters, in the bathypelagic zone, exists a realm that, because no visible sunlight penetrates, is severed from the rest of our planet in critical ways. In particular, because adapting to see the blue downwelling light from the surface is no longer an issue, bathypelagic organisms are now free to become visually sensitive to other portions of the spectrum, such as the violet or red regions, with the light coming from bioluminescent emissions. Pelagic bioluminescence has rarely been studied below 1,000 meters due to the difficulty in collecting live animals from these depths. This project proposed to explore the water column below 1,000 meters in the Sigsbee Deep in the center of the Gulf of Mexico using the Global Explorer remotely operated vehicle, the Medusa camera platform, and deep-sea trawls. These shipboard studies included the characterization of visual systems, bioluminescence, and fluorescence, the first using shipboard electroretinography, the latter two using low light imaging and spectroscopy."
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"Integration of Acoustic Echosounding into the Wire Flyer Profiling Vehicle to Investigate Scattering Layer Distribution and Oxygen Coupling",
"piname":"Roman, Chris",
"affiliation":"University of Rhode Island",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"The Wire Flyer is a ship-towed autonomous profiling vehicle that slides up and down on a standard towed 0.322 cable using controllable wings for propulsion. The vehicle is able to profile at commanded vertical speeds between 0 and about 2.5 meters per second while being towed at a speed of between 3 to 4 knots. The system can operate over specified depth bands in the water column (e.g., 400 to 800 meters) and is not restricted to the upper few hundred meters like other towed undulating systems. This project integrated a side-looking split-beam multi-frequency echo-sounder into the Wire Flyer towed profiling vehicle for the purpose of providing unprecedented acoustic and environmental sampling resolution of midwater biomass. The motivation for the project was to exploit the high spatial resolution sampling capability of the Wire Flyer vehicle and provide complementary acoustic data in regions of the water column that have been traditionally under sampled.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/19wireflyer/19wireflyer_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY17",
"title":"Peleliu’s Forgotten WWII Battlefield",
"piname":"Carrell, Toni",
"affiliation":"Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The World War II battle for Peleliu is considered of such significance that the entire island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historical Landmark in 1985 and portions were evaluated for National Historical Park status in 1991 and 2003. This project made a significant contribution to our understanding of the amphibious invasion through the discovery, identification, and recording of battle sites. Two well known, but rarely integrated, avenues of marine science were used to characterize, identify, interpret, and analyze battle remains. The traditional deployment of a geophysical and remote sensing package (side-scan and magnetometer) coupled with the use of a small remotely operated vehicle and drone, where appropriate, were complemented by marine biological characterization of the coral reef structures that now host these sites.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/18peleliu/18peleliu_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Battlefield Archaeology and Benthic Habitat Mapping on the Outer Continental Shelf: Exploring Advanced Data Acquisition Technologies to Characterize Maritime Archaeological Resources and the Living Environment off the Mid Atlantic",
"piname":"Hoyt, Joseph",
"affiliation":"NOAA, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary ",
"topic":"Archaeology/ Exploration",
"abstract":"NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary has been conducting a comprehensive survey of World War II shipwrecks off North Carolina associated with the Battle of the Atlantic (BOTA). One particularly significant engagement of the BOTA campaign was a convoy battle in July of 1942. In 2014, the remains of this battle were discovered, consisting of the U-576 and SS Bluefields. Only basic acoustic imagery was collected at the time of discovery. Through the lens of battlefield archaeology, this project sought to conduct a baseline characterization and interpretation of archaeological and natural resources on these wrecks and the surrounding battlefield area using advanced data acquisition and visualization technologies via two manned submersibles and autonomous underwater vehicles. Data collected had interdisciplinary application for archaeological interpretation and the study of the natural environment. This project involved the testing and evaluation of innovative and advanced technology and supported the place-based development of a proposed expanded national marine sanctuary."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Discovering Oregon’s Lost Coast: Finding and Studying Submerged Archaeological Sites and Landscapes on the Pacific Continental Shelf",
"piname":"Davis, Loren",
"affiliation":"Oregon State University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The question of how and when humans entered the New World is one of the most significant archaeological topics of our time. Archaeologists hypothesize that humans migrated from northeastern Asia into North America some time during the last glacial period by skirting the edge of the Cordilleran ice sheet using watercraft and/or walking along unglaciated coastal refugia. Thus, the earliest archaeological sites in the New World may be found along the northeastern Pacific outer continental shelf (POCS) where the sites are buried in submerged terrestrial landforms that were once part of ancient coastal landscapes. This project involved searching for evidence of the first Americans by collecting new acoustic survey data on the form and stratigraphic contents of the central Oregon’s POCS in areas predicted as high probability archaeological locations between 120 to 100 meters below sea level, corresponding to ancient coastlines from 21,000-15,000 calendar years ago. The results of these surveys were used to identify potential archaeological targets for sampling via vibracoring. Subsequent physical, geochemical, and radiocarbon analysis of the sediment cores enabled the clarification of relative sea level history in central Oregon. The discovery of late Pleistocene-aged archaeological evidence in cored deposits from North America’s Pacific outer continental shelf can lead to the formulation of new paradigms that better explain the process and timing of how humans colonized the Americas."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Pushing the Boundaries: Using Advanced Technology to Locate and Rapidly Assess Cultural Sites in Multiple Underwater Environments within NOAA’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary",
"piname":"Meadows, Guy",
"affiliation":"Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary",
"topic":"Archaeology/Technology",
"abstract":"Located in Lake Huron, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary was established in 2000 to protect one of the nation’s most historically significant collections of shipwrecks. In 2014, the sanctuary expanded from 448 to 4,300 square miles, making it the nation’s largest marine protected area (MPA) focused on underwater cultural heritage sites. Within this new boundary are 93 known shipwreck sites, while historic research indicates as many 100 additional sites remain undiscovered. The diverse geography throughout the expansion area, however, poses a challenge to traditional survey and site assessment techniques. Shallow, remote shorelines and shoal areas limit access from the water and preclude use of conventional vessel-deployed underwater survey tools. Similarly, little is known about the deeper bottomlands within the sanctuary’s offshore expanses. Standard archaeological survey tools, sonar and marine magnetometer, offer a limited view of these areas. This project sought to develop innovative, technology-centered, and repeatable methodologies for locating and rapidly assessing cultural sites in shallow (less than 20 feet) and deep water (greater than 130 feet) areas. This project experimented with cutting-edge equipment and techniques. The deepwater survey segment involved looking for the historically significant wreck of steamer Choctaw, while the shallower survey focused on known “ship traps”, determined via analysis of the region’s coastal geography and historical use."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Exploring the Sunken Heritage of the Battle of Midway: Honoring the Legacy of the 75th Anniversary of the Turning Point in the Pacific War",
"piname":"Keogh, Kelly",
"affiliation":"Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"For this project, scientists explored sunken aircrafts associated with the Battle of Midway, adding an important maritime heritage component to our understanding of the broader history of World War II (WWII) in the Pacific. The 75th anniversary of the Battle was in 2017, and through this project, scientists aimed to raise awareness and honor the legacy of the brave men who helped to turn the tide in the Pacific during the course of the Battle of Midway. The material culture associated with this battle is critical to understanding connections and making comparisons between Pacific regions and to better comprehending the Pacific Front of WWII. Sunken aircrafts represent tangible evidence of our nation’s naval maritime and aviation legacy. Scientists investigated legacy magnetometer anomalies; collected and ground-truthed additional magnetometry data utilizing technical, deep rebreather diving; and made discoveries that enrich the maritime and aviation history of Midway Atoll. Additionally, the project served as an opportunity for progressive multidisciplinary invasive species surveys in collaboration with the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument's resource protection program and advanced 3D imagery documentation and analysis. This project combined exploration with oral history, remote sensing, archaeological survey, and biological survey through advanced technologies."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Exploring the Deep Mariana Back-Arc Basin Within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone to Link Biodiversity, Geochemistry and Geophysics",
"piname":"Embley, Robert",
"affiliation":"NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"More than 70 percent of volcanic activity on Earth occurs under the sea surface, and only a few percent of the volcanic seafloor environment has been explored. Back-arc settings are underexplored compared to mid-ocean ridge and volcanic arc settings and are therefore a priority for deep-ocean exploration today. In November to December 2015, the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab Earth-Ocean Interactions group started a two-part interdisciplinary exploration with the R/V Falkor of a vast area of the Mariana back-arc from 13° to 18.5°N and discovered four significant new hydrothermal vent fields. The 2015 expedition used CTD casts and tows to identify hydrothermal plumes in the water-column and the Sentry autonomous underwater vehicle to map the new hydrothermal sites. In addition, a previously unknown recent eruption site was discovered. For the second part of this project, on R/V Falkor with their new 4500-meter remotely operated vehicle, scientists returned to these newly discovered hydrothermal sites and collected baseline data on the seafloor to characterize their physical, chemical, and biological environments and processes. The data acquired from the new back-arc sites will help to test fundamental concepts about the role of geographic separation versus physical/chemical habitat characteristics in controlling macrofaunal and microbiological community structure.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/16marianabackarc/16marianabackarc_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Advancing Deep-Sea Bioluminescence Exploration with a Next-Generation Low-Light Imaging System",
"piname":"Gruber, David",
"affiliation":"Baruch College, City University of New York",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"State-of-the-art, low-light, high-resolution/high-frame-rate cameras offer to dramatically advance deep-sea bioluminescence research, with implications for a wide range of research fields and direct applications to current problems in biological oceanography. This project improved upon an existing, novel low-light imaging system that had produced initial results demonstrating its potential to assess total living biomass in both spatial and temporal scales. This method may offer to supplement or replace net-tows and other physical sampling techniques for pelagic zooplankton surveys and increase the level of resolution achievable for these measurements. During this project, scientists proposed to apply the new technology and a sampling strategy that aligned important midwater data with bioluminescence observations. The major goals of this project were to improve our light stimulation technique, incorporate image processing and control software, and assimilate data into a stand-alone autonomous system. The system used an existing sCMOS camera head in a 2500-meter-rated optical housing, an off-the-shelf LED strobe system, and a custom battery pack. Strobe timing and data collection were coordinated to ensure repeatable stimulation patterns, and streamline image processing was used to accelerate the initial delivery of results. Including automation capability was aimed towards autonomous underwater vehicle integration and use on other platforms that have limited to no connectivity to the surface."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Profiling Sensor to Map N2 Gas Production in Oxygen Minimum Zones",
"piname":"McNeil, Craig",
"affiliation":"University of Washington Applied Physics Lab",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) play important roles in regulating the ocean’s global carbon and nitrogen cycles. In these functionally anoxic waters, denitrifying and anammox microbes remove nitrogenous nutrients from the biosphere by transformation to biologically unavailable nitrogen gas (N2). For this project, scientists developed a new in situ profiling sensor to detect this ‘excess’ N2 in OMZ regions in order to quantify these N-loss processes. The new sensor incorporated recent but reliable and proven technical advances in membrane and pressure sensor technologies, and therefore its development was relatively low risk. Compared to existing, slow response sensors, the new sensor had low production cost and could easily be added to any ship’s rosette CTD. Scientists’ near-term goal was to demonstrate the sensor on two NOAA research vessels and begin to collect high-quality excess N2 data in OMZs to document baseline excess N2 inventories. Their long-term goal was to determine if excess N2 inventories in OMZs are increasing as a result of ocean deoxygenation. It was expected that the new sensor can be easily adapted for use on other profiling platforms (autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, winched profilers, etc.) and be used more widely to study air-sea gas flux and net community metabolism."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Real-Time 3D Reconstruction from Remotely Operated Vehicle Camera Arrays of Opportunity",
"piname":"Stewart, Andrew",
"affiliation":"University of Washington Applied Physics Lab",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"The view from a camera will always be a spatially limited, nite-resolution two-dimensional projection of the scene. In the deep ocean, cameras are further hindered by the need for artificial lights and the short viewing distance, such that any image is a tiny slice of the world in front of the camera. Recent years have seen the development of powerful machine vision algorithms which can compensate for some of the camera's limitations. Mosaicking algorithms stitch multiple images together to increase the apparent field of view while reconstruction algorithms use multiple views of an object to estimate its three-dimensional (3D) structure. Reconstruction of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video provides a powerful tool for visualizing the structure of underwater objects and for examining spatial relationships across distances greater than the field of view of the camera. This project demonstrated real-time 3D reconstruction from ROV video data as a specialization of the more general robotics problem of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). State-of-the-art visual SLAM algorithms were tested with ROV video to evaluate their effectiveness. This work was a virtual companion to existing NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) Deep Discoverer (D2) operations. In the first phase of the project, physical metadata about the D2's camera and telepresence capabilities was collected. The second phase used archival video to evaluate and evolve existing visual SLAM algorithms. In the third stage, the principal investigators virtually participated in an OER expedition, demonstrating the effectiveness of real-time 3D reconstruction for ocean exploration as well as the potential of performing such operations virtually."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Timing of U.S. Atlantic Margin Methane Seepage Relative to Major Climate and Oceanographic Change",
"piname":"Ruppel, Carolyn",
"affiliation":"USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Most of the seeps discovered by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research in 2014 on the U.S. Atlantic margin (USAM) are on the upper continental slope (less than 600 meters water depth). The deeper water seeps (greater than 1,000 meters depth) lie far within the gas hydrate stability zone and emit methane from fractures imaged in 2015. This project addressed the linkages among climate/oceanographic change and methane seepage over the past 20,000 years through a combined discovery and research program. Seeps between Cape Hatteras and Baltimore Canyons were targeted, on the margin where hundreds of upper slope seeps had never been sampled. Bathymetry/backscatter surveys using EK60 and EM1002 (for water depths greater than 1000 meters) allowed identification of actively seeping cold vents that were likely associated with authigenic carbonates. CTD-based water samples constrained seawater composition and characterized primary producers. Video and camera surveys during remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives determined the extent and character of chemosynthetic communities and authigenic carbonate outcrops and obtained quantitative observations of bubble streams for bottom-up estimates of methane flux. U-Th geochronologic analyses and stable isotopic/14C analyses of authigenic carbonates helped to constrain methane fluxes, sources, and timing. The U/Th results allowed scientists to better link methane emissions to major climate and oceanographic drivers since 20,000 years ago. ROV-acquired push cores were analyzed for infaunal biota, compound specific biomarkers, porewater geochemistry, and grain size to constrain the seep environment. In addition, polychaetes, crustaceans, and bivalves were collected for stable isotopic analyses."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"The Current Wall: Exploring the Bathyal Biogeography of the Emperor Seamounts",
"piname":"Smith, John",
"affiliation":"University of Hawaii at Manoa",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The bathyal zone (800 to 3,500 meters depth) is the least well-known depth zone in the ocean yet contains much of the deep-sea coral diversity. There is a significant difference in the fauna between the Aleutians and Hawaii, with the likely transition occurring somewhere along the Emperor Seamount chain. There may be a rapid faunal change at the Main Gap of the Emperor Seamount chain that is determined by the west to east flow of North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW). Therefore, the primary objective of this interdisciplinary project was to explore and determine the nature, location, and extent of the biogeographic transition between the North Pacific and North Pacific Boreal bathyal provinces and to understand their phylogeographic connection. Scientists needed to know the distribution of octocoral species on either side of the Main Gap and then understand the processes that were influencing those distributions. The team first produced detailed maps of four seamounts, two (Nintoko and Jingu) on the north side and two (Koko and Colahan) on the south side of the Main Gap through which the NPIW flows in a zonal pattern. The mapping data was used to determine sites for a series of remotely operated vehicle dives to collect corals for taxonomic and molecular analyses that will form the basis of the biogeographic analysis. Water was sampled to determine water mass characteristics and near bottom flow to understand the origin and characteristics of the water in which the corals reside. Lastly, the investigation of the paleohistory of the seamounts using old octocoral skeletons allowed scientists to determine how long this pattern had been in existence."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Exploration of the Seamounts of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area",
"piname":"Rotjan, Randi",
"affiliation":"Boston University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The goal of this project was to complete the first deepwater biological surveys within the largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site on Earth. The full closure of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), effective January 1, 2015, represented a significant area of deep-sea and seamount habitat (405,755 square kilometers) and provided a unique opportunity to determine the impact of a no-take zone in the deep sea. There is an existing sister-site agreement between PIPA and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and PIPA’s collaborative arrangement with the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Establishing baseline assessments of deep-sea coral biodiversity and distribution, along with the diversity, frequency, and fidelity of coral-associated communities, are critical to evaluating the impact of the marine protected area (MPA) on deep-sea ecosystems over time. Deep-sea imaging and lighting technology was used to elucidate the role of biofluorescence in deep-coral ecosystems. In addition, the first data on the deepwater carbonate systems of the central Pacific set a baseline for ocean acidification in the region. The project team communicated the findings to the public immediately through the use of telepresence technology and the outreach channels of the New England Aquarium. These findings contributed to the adaptive management of PIPA, which is a global model for large MPA development and maintenance."
},
{
"year":"FY16",
"title":"Quinault Canyon: Exploration of an Ecologically Important Area",
"piname":"Antrim, Liam and Jenny Wadell",
"affiliation":"NOAA, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary",
"topic":"Exploration/Technology",
"abstract":"Off Washington State’s outer coast, the Quinault Canyon is an unexplored area that likely hosts along its rim an abundant community of fishery resources and a variety of deep-sea coral and sponge communities. Visual and acoustic surveys have demonstrated the importance of the Quinault Canyon for marine mammals. The head of the Quinault Canyon is the deepest point in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (1,477 meters depth). Seasonal, wind-driven upwelling in the Quinault Canyon brings nutrient-rich waters to the photic zone to support high biological productivity and periodic incursion of oxygen-depleted waters into shelf waters has resulted in significant mortality of seafloor-oriented fishery resources. The bottom habitats and marine waters of the Quinault Canyon have extraordinary cultural significance as the treaty-reserved usual and accustomed fishing grounds of the Quinault Indian Nation. In 2015, the shelf break of Quinault Canyon rim was identified as a high priority area for bathymetry mapping and habitat characterization. The proposed survey was both placed-based (Quinault) and theme-based (mapping and exploration of deep-sea canyon habitat), with management implications for tribal, federal, and state resource managers. The first exploration of the Quinault Canyon was conducted using a combination of advanced ocean technologies to support a coordinated and efficient approach to collect fine-scale bathymetric data, imagery and inventory of seafloor habitat and biota, and oceanographic data that will create a foundation for future, targeted research."
},
{
"year":"FY15",
"title":"The Chukchi Borderlands: Unexplored Seafloor Communities",
"piname":"Iken, Katrin",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project was part of a larger, multi-disciplinary group effort to explore marine communities from microbes to mammals and from sea ice to seafloor in a poorly known, bathymetrically and hydrographically complex Arctic region. As a group, scientists proposed a combination of photographic mapping using remotely operated vehicles, physical sampling, and state-of-the-art metagenomics to assess the diversity of this region. The focus of this module was to provide a taxonomic and biogeographic inventory of benthic invertebrate and fish communities across the complex Chuckchi Borderlands (CBL) region, as well as the marine mammal fauna of the region. Specifically, the project team explored whether the invertebrate and fish community of the CBL presents a biogeographic transition between Chukchi shelf fauna and the adjacent deep-sea fauna. Within this context, they were especially interested in the proportion of species of Atlantic origin because of the increasing influence of Atlantic water in this part of the Pacific Arctic sector. The CBL is a bathymetrically and hydrographically complex region, in which a field of pockmarks is a distinguishing benthic feature. One objective of this benthic module was to investigate these pockmarks for unique associations of invertebrate and fish fauna. Scientists also provided a link to higher trophic levels by observing the marine mammal community utilizing this region.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/16arctic/16arctic_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY15",
"title":"The Chukchi Borderlands: Exploration of Pelagic Life in a Complex Polar Environment",
"piname":"Hopcroft, Russell",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The focus of this module was to provide species inventories (including metagenetic analysis based on a comprehensive DNA barcode library) and determine vertical distribution of the pelagic fauna (zooplankton and nekton), including poorly known deepwater and gelatinous zooplankton, and to relate these indices to other biotic and physical variables. Additionally, project scientists collected and described several of the new species observed in the vicinity of the Chuckchi Borderlands during the 2005 expedition. This project helped establish long-term patterns and assess the “health” of zooplankton in their environment by examining reproductive rates of selected species. Finally, scientists shared exciting new findings with the public through still and video imagery of the living zooplankton.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/16arctic/16arctic_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY15",
"title":"The Chukchi Borderlands: Navigating the Hidden Microbial Network in Sea Ice",
"piname":"Collins, Eric",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This specific project primarily addressed sea ice communities with linkages to pelagic and benthic biota. The objective of this module was to explore the diversity of microscopic organisms in and from sea ice using next-generation DNA sequencing technology and to develop conceptual models describing the relationships among these hidden communities in Arctic sea ice, seawater, and benthos. In the Chuckchi Borderlands area, even larger animals like copepods are sparsely studied compared to more accessible regions like Bering Strait; microscopic organisms such as bacteria, archaea, viruses, and eukaryotic protists have rarely if ever been sampled there. There are no reports of sea ice, seawater, or sediment microbial biodiversity from this area using next generation DNA sequencing techniques. Especially in light of the expected impacts of earlier ice retreat on this area, important biodiversity still awaits discovery.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/16arctic/16arctic_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"High Resolution Visual 3D Reconstructions for Rapid Archeological Characterization",
"piname":"Johnson-Roberson, Matthew",
"affiliation":"University of Michigan",
"topic":"Technology/Archaeology",
"abstract":"The use of optical mapping has the potential to create accurate and vastly higher-resolution models of submerged archaeological sites with a fraction of the time and costs of traditional underwater survey means. This project involved the completion of a high-resolution survey of an internationally important submerged site (Port Royal, Jamaica) and scientists in the process produced a robust system of underwater survey for use by the archaeological profession to produce detailed, photorealistic plans and models of submerged sites quickly, economically, and to a level of accuracy comparable to that achieved on terrestrial sites.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/15arch3d/15arch3d_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Exploration of the Muertos Trough and Puerto Rico Trench via Un-tethered Free Vehicles",
"piname":"Schmidt, Wilford",
"affiliation":"University of Puerto Rico",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Exploration of the Earth’s major trenches is one of the last frontiers of oceanography and poses great technological challenges. Recent advances in the engineering of untethered free vehicles (FV) have been exploited to deploy and retrieve Niskin bottles, digital cameras, and Acoustic Doppler Current Meters in Puerto Rico Trench (PRT) waters estimated to be over 8,300 meters deep. For this project, scientists proposed to systematically test, improve, and enhance the relatively low-cost FV and FV-supported research methods in shallow to abyssal depths (Muertos Trough) and to employ the improved FV techniques in an exploratory study of PRT hadal waters. The proposed two-year project consisted of five overlapping activities that included: 1) FV development, 2) CTD casts, 3) Niskin casts, 4) Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler casts, and 5) invertebrate/sediment collection."
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Bioluminescence in the Deep-sea Benthos II",
"piname":"Frank, Tamara",
"affiliation":"Nova Southeastern University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project extended the exploration on vision and bioluminescence in the deep-sea benthos to the Gulf of Mexico using the remotely operated vehicle Global Explorer, which has excellent imaging and collection capabilities. Images taken during the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer 2012 Gulf of Mexico expedition suggested that there are numerous examples of cnidarian/crustacean symbioses, leading to the intriguing possibility that they too may be selectively feeding on pelagic organisms that impact the benthic structures, a virtually unexplored type of benthic/pelagic coupling. This project aimed to significantly expand the exploration of deep-sea benthic bioluminescence, examine interactions between vision and bioluminescence and benthic bioluminescence, and characterize the communities of organisms in two relatively unknown deep-sea habitats – one on the northern West Florida Escarpment and the other at the base of the West Florida Escarpment.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/15biolum/15biolum_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Mapping the Uncharted Diversity of Arctic Marine Microbes",
"piname":"Collins, Eric",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The primary objective of this project was to enable the discovery and characterization of the largely unknown molecular diversity of bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic communities associated with Arctic sea ice and benthic habitats using next-generation DNA sequencing technologies and cutting-edge bioinformatics approaches. Scientists referred to this strategy as ‘metagenomic mapping’ and argued that more detailed metagenomic maps will lead to many future discoveries. They leveraged archival samples; existing National Science Foundation-Office of Polar Programs funding for field work; and opportunistic expeditions to sample sea ice, sediment, and the host-associated communities of sympagic (ice-associated) and epibenthic (living on the seafloor) organisms repeatedly during ice-covered seasons from around the Arctic."
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Exploration of Caribbean Seamounts Within the Greater and Lesser Antilles Transition Zone: Characterization of the Benthic Ecology and Geology",
"piname":"Demopoulos, Amanda",
"affiliation":"USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Exploration of seamount environments in the Greater Antilles/Lesser Antilles transition zone included enhanced mapping efforts, remotely operated vehicle surveys, discrete collections, and ecological studies providing insight into their geological origin, the spatial distribution, ecology, and biodiversity of associated fauna and placement of this region in a global biogeographic context. The objectives of the project were: 1) Acquire multibeam/sub-bottom data to fill gaps in existing coverage; 2) Characterize geomorphology and geology (composition, age, emplacement mechanism), and investigate links to active tectonism; 3) Characterize water masses (e.g., temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and currents) and particulate flux in the only intermediate water passage into the Caribbean; 4) Examine the habitat specificity of the fauna and population dynamics of corals associated with seamount environments; and 5) Characterize the structure and food web ecology of associated fishes and invertebrate communities."
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Search for the Lost French Fleet of 1565",
"piname":"Meide, Chuck",
"affiliation":"Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"French Huguenots, under the command of Jean Ribault, were the first settlers who came to America seeking freedom from religious persecution at Fort Caroline, in present-day Jacksonville. This came to a dramatic and bloody end with the arrival of their bitter enemy, a Spanish Catholic force under command of Pedro Menéndez. The showdown between the rival powers played out under a sudden and tremendous storm, which wrecked the French galleons and resulted in the massacre by Menéndez of the shipwrecked survivors. It was thus that the Spanish founded the first and oldest city in America, St. Augustine, in 1565. The year 2015 marked the 450th anniversary of these formative events, when this Florida story became an American story and captured the national imagination. There was no better time to begin the search for these lost ships than then. The focal point for this expedition was a five-mile stretch of coast in Canaveral National Seashore immediately adjacent to a series of terrestrial archaeological sites which had been identified as 1565 French shipwreck survivor camps."
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Exploring the CO2 Output from Erupting Submarine Volcanoes into the Ocean",
"piname":"Embley, Robert",
"affiliation":"NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Northwest (NW) Rota-1 is an active submarine volcano 100 kilometers north of Guam and is one of only two sites in the world where active volcanic activity has been witnessed underwater. The uniqueness of its activity and remarkable chemosynthetic ecosystem with new species led to its inclusion in the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument in 2009. Return visits have documented a continuous but diverse range of eruptive activity including explosive bursts of lava and large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted as bubbles. However, to date, there had been no systematic attempt to quantify NW Rota’s chemical outputs of CO2 and iron (Fe). Recent studies suggest that hydrothermal Fe is transported great distances in the ocean. Meanwhile, volcanic CO2 acidifies the surrounding ocean environment impacting local ecosystems. This study helped understand and constrain Earth’s natural contributions to ocean acidification by testing new and recently developed technologies for remotely calculating volcanic CO2 input to the oceans. The goal of this project was to compare several different methods of measuring the CO2 output from NW Rota for the first time and thereby judge their effectiveness and usefulness for future studies. A secondary goal was to explore what changes had taken place at the volcano since a major eruption and landslide in 2009, particularly to the local chemosynthetic ecosystem."
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Exploration, Mapping and Surveys of the Underwater Habitats and Ecosystems of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve",
"piname":"Waller, Rhian",
"affiliation":"University of Maine",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Glacier Bay National Park (GBNP) protects unique deepwater fjords, internationally recognized as a refuge for many species of marine mammals and seabirds. What lives below the surface in the depths of the fjords, however, is still largely a mystery. The Red Tree Coral (Primnoa pacifica) has recently been found at shallow depths within the Park and a small black and white drop camera survey in 2010 showed the potential presence of three additional coral species in the park. Similar to tropical ecosystems, cold-water corals can form important habitats, creating oases supporting a wide diversity of life, making these cold-water corals areas important for GBNP’s overarching marine diversity. Glacier Bay National Park may represent one of the few areas in the world where cold-water corals have been afforded de facto protection since 1925 (when the park became a National Monument), making their discovery an important one in terms of collecting baseline ecological data for potentially “pristine” environments – something as yet unobtainable for many cold-water coral habitats. This project focused on the central and east and west arms of GBNP and the unexplored remote fjords facing the outer Gulf of Alaska within the parks boundaries. Scientists also thoroughly explored and mapped a wide variety of habitats and examined the genetic continuity of populations of corals throughout this region.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/16glacierbay/16glacierbay_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Innovative Technology for Exploration of the Arctic Ocean: Ecosystem and Carbon Wave Glider Surveys",
"piname":"Stabeno, Phillis",
"affiliation":"NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Massive physical changes are underway in the Arctic Ocean, including a transition from multiyear to seasonal ice, reduced albedo, an increase in the extent of open water, and changes in the upper water column (increased irradiance, freshening, warming, and acidification). It remains unknown how these dramatic changes will impact the marine ecosystem (from microbes to whales) and native communities. Because of the rapid pace of change and the remote and harsh environment of the Arctic, it has proven difficult to obtain adequate information needed to assess ongoing changes in the ecosystem. The goal of this project was to discover the spatial and temporal variability of physical, chemical, and biological properties in the surface layers of Chukchi Sea immediately after ice retreat using advanced radiation and autonomous underwater vehicle technology and to disseminate those discoveries in near real time to the public. The objective of this project was to deploy a radiation buoy and conduct Ecosystem Wave Glider (EWG) and Carbon Wave Glider (CWG) surveys. Specifically, the project team developed and tested innovative technology (EWG, radiometers) in 2014 and deployed the mooring and surveyed the Chukchi Sea for about 60 days using the EWG and CWG systems in 2015."
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Ambient Sound at Full Ocean Depth: Eavesdropping on the Challenger Deep",
"piname":"Meining, Christian",
"affiliation":"NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"The exploration objective of this project was to deploy a specialized deep-ocean hydrophone and mooring system to make the first recordings of ambient sound at the deepest point in the global ocean, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. The project team developed a full ocean depth hydrophone and pressure housing capable of withstanding these extreme hydrostatic pressures. They [1] constructed a mooring capable of a controlled descent/ascent to the seafloor and that can also be tracked via iridium satellite/GPS for recovery at the surface, [2] tested and developed the mooring, and [3] deployed and recovered the system in the Trench. The hydrophone was deployed at Challenger Deep for 3-4 weeks, allowing for the recording of a range of ambient sound levels that was uncontaminated by noise radiated from the deployment and recovery vessel. The team partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard to use their Guam-based buoy-tender for deployment/recovery at no cost to the project. The goal in collecting this unique data set was to establish baseline sound levels in one of the most acoustically isolated ecosystems in the world’s oceans, at a time when human-made noise in the ocean is on the rise yet the environmental impact of increasing noise levels is poorly understood."
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Search for the Lost Whaling Fleets of the Western Arctic",
"piname":"Delgado, James",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Maritime Heritage",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project involved conducting acoustic, magnetic, and video archaeological surveys and a small amount of core sampling in an area of the Chukchi Sea coast between Wainwright and the terminus of the Seahorse Islands, approximately 60 miles west of Barrow, Alaska. The surveys were targeting a place where, between 1871 and 1876, nearly 50 whaling ships were lost due to adverse ice conditions. The losses of these whaling ships were a major contributory factor to the demise of commercial whaling in the United States. This area is largely unmapped and unexplored, and therefore little is known about the potential physical remains of these wrecked ships. With increasing human activities in the Arctic as the ice diminishes due to climate change, underwater cultural heritage resources are potentially at risk from these activities. As this area has already been preliminarily proposed as a pipeline route for the Chukchi Sea oil and gas development area, it was essential to begin acquiring information about the presence of any shipwreck sites or physical artifacts that could be disturbed by this or other economic development activities in this region. The project was also potentially important with regard to the identification and establishment of marine protected areas in the Arctic.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/15lostwhalingfleets/15lostwhalingfleets_cruise_landing_page.html"
},
{
"year":"FY14",
"title":"Remotely Conducting In-situ Chemical and Isotopic Exploration of Deep Sea Environments",
"piname":"Wankel, Scott",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"Here, through a bold, interdisciplinary project, the authors proposed to conduct the first-ever in situ, real-time chemical and stable isotopic exploration of two unique seafloor sites in the Caribbean, representing a ground-breaking advancement in the application of new exploration enabling sensor technology and its application to geographic areas of strategic interest. This project broke new ground, as the control and operation of the instrumentation was conducted in part via a telepresence link from the Inner Space Center at the University of Rhode Island. The use of a near-infrared integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS)-based sensor for deep-sea δ13C CH4 measurements of high-methane environments including hydrocarbon seeps and hydrothermal systems had been recently demonstrated by the project’s principal investigator (PI). The project team proposed to couple this sensor with a high-performance membrane inlet dissolved gas extractor (MIDGE) currently under development, for improved sensitivity of methane isotopic measurements and the added measurement of total dissolved inorganic carbon through an acidification module."
},
{
"year":"FY11",
"title":"The Costa Escondida Project: Exploring the Hidden Coast of the Maritime Maya",
"piname":"Glover, Jeffrey",
"affiliation":"Georgia State University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The Costa Escondida Project was a long-term, interdisciplinary research endeavor that focused on the dynamic relationship between the Maya and their coastal landscape. Through mask and snorkel surveys and sediment sampling, the project team adopted the maritime cultural landscape approach to examine the complex interrelationship between human maritime activities and natural features and events and explore the adaptive subsistence strategies of the Maya at the human-coastal interface. By reconstructing life at the ancient coastal port of Vista Alegre, this project provided new data for Mayanists and Mesoamericanists and cross-cultural comparisons of port integration into larger political economies. It has generated scientific knowledge for social education about maritime history and for local partners to better protect and preserve their coastal and submerged cultural resources.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/oer-digital-atlas/mapsOE.htm?cruiseNum=MaritimeMaya2011"
},
{
"year":"FY11",
"title":"Continued Archaeological Investigations of Early Human Occupation of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Adovasio, James",
"affiliation":"Mercyhurst College",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The project team identified over two thousand targets of interest on the inundated inner continental shelf along Florida's west coast in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico as a result of their 2008 and 2009 NOAA Ocean Exploration-funded fieldwork. Based on their hypothesis that submerged coastlines in the littoral zones of the eastern Gulf of Mexico contained intact beach features and indications of initial anthropogenic use of these environments, they carried out focused investigations to seek additional evidence of settlement and dispersal of late Pleistocene humans into and through the New World. Through targeted remote sensing, they explored channels and related geomorphological features of Florida’s west coast river systems that intersected with the submerged coastlines. They also deployed a remotely operated vehicle for verification and ground-truthing at deepwater sites. Their project shed new light on early human occupation and use of coastal paleo-environments.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/oer-digital-atlas/mapsOE.htm?cruiseNum=SubmergedNewWorld2011"
},
{
"year":"FY11",
"title":"Mapping and Characterization of Alaska's Unexplored Arctic Coastal Rocky Habitats",
"piname":"Iken, Katrin",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project mapped and characterized an uncharted rocky habitat in the nearshore Arctic off the coast of Barrow, Alaska, through multibeam mapping, scuba diving, sampling, and photographic documentation. Rocky habitats like these are potential biodiversity hotspots of ecological and economic significance as they may support benthic primary producers with tightly linked food webs. The project enhanced scientific understanding of species distribution patterns and biogeographic distribution. It also contributed to the testing and possible revision of a hypothesis regarding the origin of invertebrate and algal populations associated with these rocky habitats and inferred the importance of local environmental conditions versus larger-scale dispersal patterns. Baseline information provided by this project could be used to support management and mitigation strategies for Arctic nearshore ecosystems."
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"Ocean Exploration and Biotechnology on Pacific Deep Reefs",
"piname":"Slattery, Marc and Michael Lesser",
"affiliation":"University of Mississippi and University of New Hampshire",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project involved technical diving, video and photo documentation, and collection of taxonomic samples in Chuuk — one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia — to survey, characterize, and assess deep reef communities, in particular their biodiversity and distribution patterns and the biopharmaceutical potentials of associated flora and fauna. Although deep-sea coral reef ecosystems are often biodiversity hotspots and potential refugia for many important shallow-reef species, they are underexplored due to various limitations. The Indo-Pacific deep reefs, specifically, encompass far more biodiversity than their counterparts in the Caribbean. This project resulted in a multidisciplinary bioassessment of Pacific deep reefs that can inform resource management. In addition, samples collected will be used for potential biotechnological development in the pharmaceutical and molecular markets.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/oer-digital-atlas/mapsOE.htm?cruiseNum=PacificReefs2011"
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"Exploring the Undersea San Andreas Fault: Uncovering the Past, Present and Future at the Centennial",
"piname":"Goldfinger, Chris and Waldo Wakefield",
"affiliation":"Oregon State University and NOAA Northwest Science Fisheries Center",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Upon the 100th anniversary of the Great 1906 Earthquake that nearly destroyed San Francisco, California, the project team explored and examined the Northern San Andreas Fault, which is the offshore boundary fault between the Pacific and North American plates that ruptured and caused the earthquake. Using high-resolution multibeam, sidescan, and multifrequency water column sonars, the team imaged the entire fault and subsurface transects across the fault to understand its deep structure and the evolution of the surrounding area. They deployed a near-seafloor autonomous underwater vehicle and a remotely operated vehicle to investigate areas of interest identified from the larger maps and collected samples of sediment and hard corals impacted by past earthquakes to establish the tectonic history of the fault. They also tested the use of an eco-friendly exploration vehicle primarily powered by sail. This project increased our knowledge about the relationship between tectonic history and biodiversity along the fault system and enhanced our understanding of how this unexplored but active geobiologic system may respond to possible future disturbances."
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"Exploration of Active Volcanism and Hydrothermal Systems in the NE Lau Basin",
"piname":"Embley, Robert and Tim Shank and Julie Huber",
"affiliation":"NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Marine Biological Laboratory ",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project is a continuation of the Submarine Ring of Fire expeditions funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration between 2003 and 2007 to discover and preserve diverse chemosynthetic ecosystems. Building on the finding of plumes emanating from two ongoing eruptions and several additional sources during their initial exploration, this project team explored the active volcanic and hydrothermal systems in the Northeast Lau basin in the southwest Pacific Ocean using water column surveys, a towed camera, and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The Northeast Lau basin is a unique hotspot and locus of particularly diverse volcanic environments and hydrothermal activities over a large depth range (approximately 1,000-2,000 meters/3,280-6,561 feet) within a small geographic area. During the first year of their project, the team planned to continue their exploration of the Northeast Lau basin and Tonga arc which contain the largest and most complex arc/back-arc system on Earth. They looked for volcanic and hydrothermal activities during their expedition, including potential eruption sites northwest of West Mata. They proposed to locate these sites using a CTD/rosette system and use the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s deep-towed camera/sampling system to image and sample the sites. During the second year of their project, the team conducted exploratory dives with the ROV Jason 2 at sites found in 2008 and 2010 and to extend observations and sampling of the West Mata eruption site. Their work will shed light on one of the most hidden and yet dynamic and fundamental biogeographic and biochemical processes of the planet Earth."
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"Between the Salt Water and the Sea Strand: A Comparative Study of Inundated Marine Palaeolandscapes in the North Sea and the Arabian Gulf",
"piname":"Gaffney, Vince",
"affiliation":"University of Birmingham ",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The continental shelves in the southern North Sea and the Persian Gulf contain extensive, unexplored submerged and preserved Late Quaternary and Holocene landscapes. Although these archaeological deposits were largely inaccessible to archaeologists due to various limitations, researchers at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom had demonstrated that marine geophysical datasets collected for commercial purposes could be used to help us understand the history of climatic change and human migration of these landscapes. This interdisciplinary project used 3D seismic datasets from various commercial data providers to carry out comprehensive mapping and characterization of two study areas in northwest Europe and Qatar. The project results can help facilitate regional heritage management and drive future research and comparative study of paleo-seascapes."
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"Using a Multi-Sensor Gradiometer to Assist in Searching for Two Revolutionary-War Era Maryland State Navy Vessels",
"piname":"Jordan, Brian",
"affiliation":"Maryland Historical Trust",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project tested a specialized gradiometer and assisted in the effort to locate two 200-year-old Maryland State Navy vessels named Cato and Hawk that were lost in 1781 during the American Revolution. To obtain acoustic images and magnetic signatures for over 550 linear nautical miles (633 miles) of submerged bottomland, the team used a Marine Magnetics SeaQuest multisensor gradiometer, the only marine platform capable of measuring the complete three-dimensional gradient vector with high accuracy and in real time, and an industry-standard side-scan sonar. Since relatively few American-built small fighting vessels from the American Revolutionary War have been discovered and archaeologically studied, the results of this project can help us better understand the connection between the war effort and commerce in the region and shed light on an important part of American naval history."
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"Synthetic Aperture Sonar Survey to Locate Archaeological Resources in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary",
"piname":"Lawrence, Matthew",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"At the time of this project, only 5% of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary’s seafloor had been investigated, and the potential for new shipwreck discoveries was very real given the santuary’s location along New England’s maritime traffic. The team sought to locate shipwrecks from the earliest days of European settlement in New England using synthetic aperture sonar mounted on a remotely operated tow vehicle. The project team located over a dozen sonar targets with archaeological characteristics in the sanctuary, at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. They strategically mapped 169 square kilometers (1,819,100,860 square feet) of seafloor near the country’s oldest ports of Gloucester, Salem, Marblehead, and Boston where higher shipwreck densities are expected. Project findings can inform sanctuary zoning and management, and future archaeological investigation.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/oer-digital-atlas/mapsOE.htm?cruiseNum=Stellwagen2010"
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"AUV/Diver Archaeological Survey of Greek Marine Park",
"piname":"Foley, Brendan",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"In partnership with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture in Greece’s Northern Sporades National Marine Park, northwestern Aegean Sea, this project team proposed an integrated human-robot survey of archaeologically significant seafloor in the Marine Park. They deployed two autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) depth rated to 100 meters with side scan and multibeam sonar to map approximately 15 square nautical miles (19.86 square miles). The AUVs were used to perform close-up optical and acoustic inspection of potential shipwreck sonar targets detected during the survey. Scuba divers also visually ground-truthed targets of interest and documented shipwreck discoveries with a custom-made, high-resolution digital stereo camera system for underwater photogrammetry. The team then recovered select artifacts from shipwreck sites at the direction of the Greek archaeologists for ancient DNA analysis and other purposes. This project also established a new methodological and theoretical approach to maritime archaeology."
},
{
"year":"FY10",
"title":"Unlocking 10,000 Years of Great Lakes History: The Search for Prehistoric Archaeological Sites along Lake Huron's Alpena-Amberley Ridge",
"piname":"O’Shea, John",
"affiliation":"University of Michigan",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project explored Lake Huron’s Alpena-Amberley Ridge in the larger region of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary to look for prehistoric sites of early human occupation during the Lake Stanley low-water stage that were later submerged as a result of rises in levels of the Holocene Great Lakes. The project team used multibeam sonar to map a 115 square-kilometer (44.4 square-mile) segment of lakebed, identified archaeological structures and features, and ground-truthed them through the deployment of a remotely operated vehicle, scuba divers, and sampling. They created a dynamic, agent-based, and three-dimensional model that reconstructed the ancient landscape and simulated the interaction between caribou migration and movement and Late Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic hunters and settlers. The data generated by this project will help inform the consideration of expanding the sanctuary and enhance understanding of Great Lakes prehistory."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Pushing the Boundaries: Using Advanced Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology to Locate Historic Shipwrecks in Large Survey Areas",
"piname":"Green, Russ",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"To evaluate the potential of expanding the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS), the project team proposed to develop an efficient and cost-effective remote sensing method for surveying large deep water areas with high-resolution imagery. Bringing together marine archaeology and engineering, the project team deployed and tested an advanced autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) outfitted with a new generation of the Integrated Precision Underwater Mapping (iPUMA) sonar system developed by the Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin. The team’s goal was to discover new shipwreck sites within the potential expanded boundaries of the TBNMS, identify bottom characteristics, locate marine habitats, and survey prehistoric archeological sites. With the help of a diver team, their fieldwork revealed unexpected evidence of human activities, including piles of large hunks of coal and snowmobile tracks. The project results supported the development of a more robust AUV system and informed management of the sanctuary’s resources.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/oer-digital-atlas/mapsOE.htm?cruiseNum=TB2010"
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Mal De Mer no Mas: Searching for Early Underwater Sites in the Sea of Cortez",
"piname":"Glassow, Michael ",
"affiliation":"University of California Santa Barbara",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project explored the submerged paleolandscape on the continental shelf off the western margin of Isla Espíritu Santo, Baja California Sur in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. The team conducted targeted surveys and testing with the objective of collecting data relevant to the initial migration of humans into the New World during the late Pleistocene. They carried out remote sensing sonar surveys using side-scan sonar and identified 256 targets of interest in 40 square kilometers (15.44 square miles) of submerged landscape. Using the remotely sensed data, the project team developed a detailed landscape reconstruction that modeled the location and character of the ancient terrain. In addition, they conducted 131 scuba dives at select locations in waters up to 36.58 meters (120 feet) in depth and sampled targets that were likely to contain preserved archaeological materials. Through this process, they identified potential cultural deposits, submerged and buried shell and lithic materials, specifically. Data collected contributed to discussion of the hypothesis that the earliest inhabitants of the New World migrated along a coastal route.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/oer-digital-atlas/mapsOE.htm?cruiseNum=Cortez2010"
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Bioluminescence in the Deep-sea Benthos",
"piname":"Frank, Tamara",
"affiliation":"Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Very little about bioluminescence in deep-sea organisms is known because dredges and benthic trawls kill most of the collected organisms, and submersible or remotely operated vehicle lamps overpower any locally produced light. Using their combined expertise in bioluminescence, taxonomy, visual ecology, imaging, and molecular biology, this project team used the unique capabilities of the Johnson-Sea-Link submersible to explore the deep-sea benthic environment and look for new sources of bioluminescence. They used submersible-based, low-light cameras to observe and photograph stimulated bioluminescence of living organisms in situ. Using thermally insulated, light-tight BioBoxes, they collected benthic specimens and brought them to the surface alive, in cold water, and still dark-adapted. This enabled the project team to identify the organisms that produced bioluminescence in situ, conduct spectral measurements of their luminescence, initiate molecular studies to look for novel photoproteins involved in producing short-wavelength bioluminescence, and continue studies of the visual physiology of those specimens with photoreceptors.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:39615"
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"The Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences Program",
"piname":"Englander, Carol",
"affiliation":"The Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences Program",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"The Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) Program was a one-year effort that enhanced ocean-science literacy through the development of ocean curriculum modules. Based on NOAA’s educational materials, the team compiled five-day modules of ready-to-use classroom activities for middle and high school students that were inquiry-based, hands-on, directly tied to NOAA’s ocean expeditions, and met the science grade span expectations of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. All of the activities in the modules were written and tested by scientists and educators, enabling teachers to model ocean exploration in their classrooms. The modules were presented at a summer professional development workshop at the University of Rhode Island and distributed to the science department heads of middle and high schools in Rhode Island. They became an important resource in biology, earth, physical, and marine science courses that connected students to the excitement of ocean exploration and also introduced them to different careers in ocean research."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Families Learning Ocean Explorer Science (FLOES)",
"piname":"Marriott, Adrienne",
"affiliation":"San Diego County Office of Education",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"Designed to increase public literacy of ocean issues, the Families Learning Ocean Explorer Science (FLOES) program at the San Diego County Office of Education modified NOAA Ocean Exploration educational materials and developed ocean-science learning kits for students in grades 4-12 and their families at out-of-school family science-learning events. The formation of the learning kits was informed by a group of lead educators, and all materials were finalized by the project manager. The project also included professional development activities for educators, including those from schools of traditionally underrepresented populations, after which the participants were given access to four unique FLOES kits for multigenerational learning and community events. Each kit addressed a specific grade span and area of focus aligned with the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and informed students and their families of the diverse careers in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. The FLOES program also created a website to share the contents of each kit so that others could easily replicate a kit for their own use, thus furthering the scope of their efforts."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Bringing Ocean Literary to a Land-Locked State",
"piname":"Frank, Tamara",
"affiliation":"Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"To facilitate public scientific literacy by linking scientific concepts to the ocean environment and the classroom to the real world, this project developed an eight-hour professional development workshop using information and activities from 29 lesson plans in NOAA Ocean Exploration’s “Learning Ocean Science Through Ocean Exploration” curriculum. The project team organized five workshops throughout the land-locked state of Illinois, shared NOAA Ocean Exploration curricula and web links at the annual Illinois Science Teachers Association Conference, and provided related press releases and articles to regional and state-wide education publications and organizations. In addition, they created three videos based on the principal investigator’s professional development presentation that highlighted scientific concepts introduced in the curricula as well as the principal investigator’s real-life experiences as a scientist. Educational lectures and videos were also disseminated through the Illinois Teachers’ Workshop and WhaleTimes websites to reach a larger audience."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Continuing Development of Ocean Creatures and Features Online for Kids (Phase 2)",
"piname":"Tuddenham, Peter",
"affiliation":"The College of Exploration",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"This project expanded NOAA Ocean Exploration’s education website by adding interactive Flash-based activities for children ages 6-12 to learn about creatures and features observed during NOAA Ocean Exploration expeditions (e.g., jellyfish, whales, sea lions, and hydrothermal vents) and ships (e.g., NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and USS Monitor). In response to the need for web-based, ocean-science-related educational materials expressed by parents and youth leaders of afterschool and summer programs, the project team adapted the NOAA Ocean Exploration’s “Learning Ocean Science through Ocean Exploration” curriculum and associated web materials in an imaginative and innovative way to engage younger children. Website content was reviewed by a science educator and pilot tests were carried out with target groups of children. The project also included phases of evaluation to revise the website and enhance the overall project effectiveness of facilitating children’s self-directed learning about ocean sciences in informal settings."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Ocean Exploration Curriculum and Programming for Middle School Students",
"piname":"Stone, Debbi",
"affiliation":"The Florida Aquarium, Inc.",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"This project was designed to reach students, teachers, and visitors of the Florida Aquarium in Tampa Bay, Florida, and beyond with the primary goal of exciting middle school students and teachers about ocean exploration and related careers through engaging curriculum and encounters with scientists. It prepared students for the state-mandated Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in science and filled in the critical gap of real-time and relevant science programming in the Tampa Bay region. The project team organized four teacher workshops and shared dynamic exploration-focused curricula with 61 participants from 10 counties. They also organized “Ocean Exploration Day,” which included a live broadcast of underwater exploration at the Florida Aquarium, during which about 100 students per day observed the field research and asked divers questions in real time. The team also upgraded the aquarium’s website to foster an online learning community and conducted professional project evaluation to ensure future success of these activities."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Ancient Egyptian Shipwreck Survey with REMUS AUV",
"piname":"Foley, Brendan ",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project team of archaeologists, scientists, and engineers conducted an underwater archaeological survey project near Knossos, a city in Crete, Greece. Knossos was one of the world’s first urban habitation centers, with maritime activities that spanned from the Neolithic through the modern period. The team deployed a variety of advanced technologies to document the area’s seafloor and cultural remains from ancient civilizations. Technologies included autonomous underwater vehicles, side-scan and multibeam sonar systems, a sub-bottom profiler, closed-circuit rebreather diving systems, and diver thrusters. The project team mapped 30 square kilometers (12 square miles) of contiguous seafloor to a depth of 100 meters (328 feet), and divers visually surveyed 11 linear kilometers (6.8 miles) of seafloor. In total, they located eight shipwrecks, three ancient anchorages, and one ancient harbor installation, with artifacts and sites dating from the Bronze Age to the modern era. The team recovered artifacts from each of the ancient shipwreck sites and anchorages for conservation and further studies."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Deepwater Connections: Probing the Southern Limits of Distribution of North Atlantic Deep-Sea Coral Communities",
"piname":"France, Scott",
"affiliation":"University of Louisiana at Lafayette",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project explored and characterized the diversity and abundance of octocorals, their commensals, and deep-sea fish living between 800 and 2,327 meters (2,625-7,635 feet) on the continental slope of the Bahama Platform east of southern Florida. During the expedition, the project team sampled and recorded videos and still imagery of deep-sea coral communities on the bathyal slope during 15 dives using the remotely operated vehicle Global Explorer. Video transects on each dive were used to map the distribution of octocorals and antipatharians and collect data on coral-associated species. The team also carried out lab-based work that included genetic analysis of octocorals and invertebrate associates and video analysis of octocoral morphology and fish distribution and behavior. The team discovered new species and novel ecologies, furthering our understanding of relationships between seafloor habitats and the distribution of invertebrates and deep-sea fish."
},
{
"year":"FY09",
"title":"Continued Archaeological Investigation of Early Human Occupation of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Adovasio, James",
"affiliation":"Mercyhurst College",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The purpose of this project was to reconstruct the potentially habitable Pleistocene landscape of western Florida from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as it existed circa 22,000 years ago and persisted until it was entirely covered by sea-level rise. Using remote sensing survey techniques and diver examination of target locations, the team identified hundreds of relic landforms and examined many types of submarine features on the submerged inner continental shelf of western Florida, including intact river and stream channels, shore and nearshore deposits, karst sinkholes, and other recognizable terrestrial forms such as overbank deposits. The team’s continued generation, processing, and analysis of exploratory data led to a fundamental evolution of our understanding of the timing and nature of the inundation processes since the LGM. Specifically, they changed our understanding of how these inundation processes might have influenced resource availability and potential exploitation patterns, among other human behaviors, from the time of the initial human colonizers of this area until their descendents had been pushed inland roughly 5,000 years ago. Rather than assuming an even, systematic reduction of available land and resources, the project team showed that inundation varied over time and that it would have had profound effects on the human inhabitants of the landscape."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"INSPIRE: International South-East Pacific Investigation of Reducing Environments",
"piname":"German, Christopher ",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project was the first systematic exploration of hydrothermal activities in the Chile Triple Junction (CTJ) along the East Chile Rise — a high priority area of study during the decade of the Census of Marine Life. During the surveying and mapping expedition, the project team discovered water column signals indicative of seafloor venting close to the CTJ. By deploying autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry and the towed underwater camera system called Tow-Cam, they found a thick sediment cover in the southernmost section of the East Chile Rise ridge-axis that was consistent with the hydrothermal-plume data and confirmed that sediments at the CTJ hosted fauna in high abundance. The project provided generalizable data for assessing the ability of common chemosynthetic fauna to colonize hydrothermal and cold-seep habitats throughout the ocean and provided a foundation for future studies of the biogeography and biodiversity of chemosynthetic fauna."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"The Chukchi Borderlands: Diversity of Life in Arctic Pack Ice",
"piname":"Gradinger, Rolf",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project featured a detailed analysis of the distribution and abundance of organisms — specifically eukaryotes — living in association with the sea ice in the Chukchi/Beaufort Sea regions of the Arctic Ocean north of Barrow, Alaska. The melting Arctic ice in the region has led to reduced salinities and an associated reduction in the ice related biomass and diversity. The project team proposed that pressure ridges, which reach well below the surface layer of reduced salinities, might provide refuge for the sea-ice biological communities. The team used divers and ice corers to sample the ice and established marine life inventories and mapped the physical and chemical environment of the sea-ice, pelagic, and benthic ecosystems. This project resulted in an unprecedented set of data about pressure ridges and evaluated the state of the Arctic ice biota in the region of maximum summer sea-ice retreat. In addition, it was an important contribution to the International Polar Year (2007-2008) and the “Arctic Ocean Diversity” initiative."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"Early Human Occupation of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Adovasio, James",
"affiliation":"Mercyhurst College",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project team’s exploration of the submerged Pleistocene landscape in the eastern Gulf of Mexico generated a large amount of data documenting the existence of prehistoric landforms, including intact river and stream channels, shore and nearshore deposits, karst sinkholes, and other recognizable terrestrial forms such as overbank deposits. Using this data, the team reconstructed portions of the terminal Pleistocene Floridian landscape and made inferences about ecological constraints and the distribution of biotic communities on that landscape. They also examined the changes in this landscape over an approximately 12,000 year period. The project enhanced our understanding of the paleolandscape in the region, including the effects of long-term climate change on biotic communities and how the early human inhabitants of the New World acted and reacted to the changing environment for more than 10,000 years."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"Exploration of Shallow and Deep Water Submerged Sinkhole Ecosystems in Thunder Bay Nms, Lake Huron: Habitat and Life",
"piname":"Ruberg, Steven",
"affiliation":"NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The project team explored shallow and deep coastal sinkholes of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary to understand the chemical and physical properties that contributed to the unique ecologies in these systems. The team used remotely operated vehicles and divers to sample and characterize large areas of the sanctuary. In addition, they gathered data on the hydrology (the flow rates and dispersion), biology, and chemistry of submerged groundwater vents in northwestern Lake Huron. Specifically, the project team collected benthic samples of unusual microbial mats growing in very low oxygen conditions to determine how groundwater chemistry allowed them to thrive. They analyzed these samples for their potential application as pharmaceuticals. Using a moored hydrographic instrument array, the project team also improved their understanding of the groundwater's chemical and physical characteristics, such as conductivity (an indication of the presence of ions), temperature, and flow. Ultimately, the project enhanced the understanding of submerged groundwater vents in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"Valcour Bay Archaeological Dive Verification Project",
"piname":"Cohn, Arthur ",
"affiliation":"Lake Champlain Maritime Museum",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The purpose of this project was to conduct a diver verification study to follow up on multiple anomalies discovered in 2007 on the seafloor along Lake Champlain’s Valcour Bay in Clinton County, New York, between the town of Peru and Valcour Island. After exploration with a marine magnetometer and a side-scan sonar, some of these anomalies turned out to be maritime heritage resources, including two historic sleighs and four small boats. Despite the known presence of Revolutionary War artifacts in Valcour Bay, the survey did not discover any resources from that era. Through this work, the team concluded that there were no large archaeological features with significant metallic content, such as ships, remaining in the survey area. They also concluded that the methodological approach used for the remote-sensing survey was not adequate for discerning the magnetic signatures of the smaller battle-related artifacts that were known to lie on the bottom of the bay. Still, the team’s findings have served as a basis for additional research on the magnetic delineation of submerged battlefields."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"The Search for the Slave Ship Trouvadore and the U.S. Navy Ships Chippewa and Onkahye",
"piname":"Keith, Donald",
"affiliation":"Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project was driven by the hypothesis that ancestors of part of the present-day population of the Turks and Caicos Islands had arrived directly from Africa when the ship carrying them wrecked somewhere in the Caicos Islands. The team’s archival research revealed that most of the 200 Africans saved from the Spanish slave ship Trouvadore in 1841 were integrated into the local community. Recognizing that a sizable proportion of the native population today were descendents from these survivors, the project team conducted an expansive search for the archaeological remains of Trouvadore. In addition, they located and identified the wrecks of two U.S. Navy ships, Brig Chippewa and Schooner Onkahye, that had engaged in anti-piracy and anti-slavery patrols in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the 1800s. The project gained community support, raised awareness about the maritime history and heritage of the region, and caught international media attention for its archaeological significance and findings."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"Mystery Beneath the Waves: Searching for Historic Shipwrecks Within and Beyond the Boundaries of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary",
"piname":"Green, Russ",
"affiliation":"NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects one of the nation’s most historically significant collections of shipwrecks and over 100 sites await discovery within and just beyond the sanctuary’s boundary. With strong public support and the occurrence of dozens of known shipwrecks, this project team supported the sanctuary’s mission to expand its boundary by conducting a comprehensive remote-sensing survey in the potential expansion area and exploring existing sanctuary areas. They conducted a side-scan sonar/magnetometer survey using a towed system and field-tested two experimental autonomous underwater vehicles equipped with sonar, stereo cameras, and an innovative navigation and communication package. The project’s technological development served the broader archaeological community, generating important data for evaluating, characterizing, and managing the sanctuary. The project also included a curriculum-based, real-time distance learning component, and furthered our understanding of Great Lakes maritime heritage and its critical role in American history."
},
{
"year":"FY08",
"title":"Ocean Exploration in the International Education Community",
"piname":"Ryan, Melissa",
"affiliation":"Ocean Technology Foundation",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"This project introduced, marketed, and disseminated NOAA Ocean Exploration’s educational resources to an international audience in Portugal and other European countries. The project team organized three teacher professional development workshops in the north, south, and central regions of Portugal, the agendas and structures of which were similar to those offered by NOAA Ocean Exploration. Participants included 51 classroom teachers of students from grades 5 to 10, informal educators from the Ciencia Viva Centers, the nonprofit CoastWatch, and the Lisbon aquarium. Ten of Portugal’s top ocean scientists served as presenters and shared their research with the participants. Fourteen of NOAA Ocean Exploration’s lessons were translated into Portuguese, distributed to the teachers, and made available to the public on the Ciencia Viva website. The project team believed that a global educational approach is critical in managing and sustaining ocean resources since no single nation owns or could manage the ocean alone. "
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Blue Hill Bay Submerged Prehistoric Landscape Survey",
"piname":"Claesson, Stefan",
"affiliation":"University of New Hampshire",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"To assess the probability of recovering cultural and ecological information from submerged paleoindian and archaic coastal landscapes and archaeological sites, this project team conducted remote sensing surveys in two primary areas south of Mount Desert Island near Bass Harbor and the Green Islands in Maine. They collected high-resolution image and seismic data using sub-bottom seismic profiling, multibeam sonar, and remotely operated vehicle videography. In addition, they recovered seafloor sediments via vibracoring and examined them for the presence of preserved cultural materials. The project team used a variety of techniques to analyze sediment cores to determine their age and the presence of pollen, diatoms, and foraminifera. They discovered intact paleolandscapes, including archeological remains that resembled a lake and/or a bar-built estuary. This project was a critical first step toward evaluating preservation potential within the Greater Penobscot Bay region."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Protecting a Shifting Baseline: Shallow to Deep Reefs at Bonaire",
"piname":"Patterson, Mark",
"affiliation":"College of William & Mary",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project team of ocean scientists and engineers conducted a five-week field expedition to Bonaire, Netherlands, which arguably has the most pristine coral reef environment in the Caribbean and a high degree of marine endemism. To explore and map these reefs, document their patterns of biodiversity in both shallow and deep waters, and assess other baseline conditions, the project team conducted technical diving surveys of the leeward side of Bonaire, deployed three autonomous underwater vehicles, a benthic observatory array, and two acoustic Doppler current profilers. They collected side-scan sonar; conductivity, temperature, and depth; and dissolved oxygen data in addition to video imagery, 30 sediment cores, a sample of an unidentified cyanobacterium, and a sample an encrusting tunicate, most likely Trididemnum solidum. The expedition results were presented to scientific audiences and the public through print, the web, and radio. This project has supported the Bonaire government’s effort to protect their unique reef ecosystem and help guide efforts to create fishing protected areas and gain international protection.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:72312"
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Exploring the Maritime History of the Lower Hudson River",
"piname":"Flood, Roger",
"affiliation":"Stony Brook University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The Hudson River has a long and rich human history, and more than 180 miles of the river bed had been previously mapped using multibeam sonar, which revealed hundreds of features likely to be submerged cultural resources. With the objective of identifying historically known shipwrecks as well as undocumented sunken vessels and other features, this project team carried out a two-week long high-resolution multibeam and side-scan sonar survey in conjunction with the NOAA Navigation Response Team 7 in the portion of the Hudson River between New York City and the Hudson Highlands in New York. They also deployed scuba divers to investigate features on the riverbed, including five shipwrecks that had been previously located by the project team. The characterization of these marine archaeological sites was an important step in their long-term study, management, and preservation."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Operation Deep-Scope 2007: Characterization of Cliff Ecosystems Using New Technologies",
"piname":"Johnsen, Sonke",
"affiliation":"Duke University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project team collected a large amount of imagery data and samples during 19 submersible and 15 scuba dives, which were primarily at Goulding Cay and off the coast of Little San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. They conducted eye-in-the-sea camera investigations designed to be acoustically quiet and using far-red illumination to observe deep-sea animals unobtrusively. Among their discoveries were the brightest known green fluorescent protein, the first red fluorescent protein in a hydrozoan jellyfish, and the largest known deep-sea motile protist — a eukaryotic organism that is neither an animal, plant, or fungus. They also recorded the slowest eyes ever measured – in an isopod, Booralana tricarinata – and identified the reasons why polarization vision is useful for breaking transparency camouflage. In addition, they documented extreme polarization in the eyes of the reef fish Hypoplectrus indigo, intense red and green fluorescence in the fireworm Hermodice carunculata, bioluminescent displays in response to a rapid repetitive flash of electronic jellyfish, and bottom-rooting as a feeding behavior of six-gill sharks. This expedition also led to substantial media coverage, including a feature news article in Nature and programs produced by PBS’s NOVA and the BBC.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:51895"
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Virginia Capes Archaeology Project",
"piname":"Mather, Ian (Rod) ",
"affiliation":"University of Rhode Island",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The Virginia Capes Archaeology Project team carried out two expeditions in 2007 and 2008, one on NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson and the other on the University of Rhode Island’s Research Vessel Endeavor. The first expedition involved using side-scan and multibeam sonar to conduct a geophysical survey of an area at the head of Norfolk Canyon on the edge of the continental shelf off Virginia. The second expedition involved additional geophysical survey work in the same area using two autonomous underwater vehicles and a towed side-scan sonar as well as a remotely operated vehicle for ground-truthing. Building upon previous expeditions to the area in 2006, the team considered different scenarios to explain the presence of a cannon discovered in 1983 off the coast of Virginia and located magnetic anomalies while searching for a potential 16th-century shipwreck in the area. They identified several modern wrecks located during previous survey work sponsored by NOAA Ocean Exploration and hypothesized that they are possibly German military shipwrecks dating from the end of World War I. Finally, they began reconstructing the paleo-archaeological landscape of the surveyed region."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Ocean Creatures and Features Online for Kids",
"piname":"Tuddenham, Peter",
"affiliation":"College of Exploration",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"Educators from the College of Exploration expanded NOAA Ocean Exploration’s education website by adding interactive Flash-based activities for children ages 6-12. The project’s objective was to adapt and present NOAA’s curriculum “Learning Ocean Science” and other web materials in an innovative way for younger children’s self-directed learning about ocean sciences in informal settings. The project also addressed the need for engaging, web-based ocean science educational materials. The interactive web activities developed by the team focused on 10 “creatures” and “features” seen during NOAA Ocean Exploration expeditions, including marine organisms such as corals and whales and ocean features such as hydrothermal vents and USS Monitor. The team did a literature review to learn about design criteria and web characteristics for implementing the interactive Flash-based activities and enhancing the effectiveness of children’s learning and engagement. Website content was reviewed by a science educator and pilot tests were done with target groups of children. The team gathered feedback during these processes and made both formative and summative evaluations for revising the website and overviewing the overall project efficacy."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Valcour Bay Magnetometer Survey",
"piname":"Cohn, Arthur ",
"affiliation":"Lake Champlain Maritime Museum",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Valcour Bay, in Clinton County, New York, is the site of a 1776 Revolutionary War naval battle and a National Historic Landmark. The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum conducted a systematic marine magnetometer survey of this site to map metallic features related to the naval battle and to search for an unnamed British gunboat lost during the battle. The project team undertook fieldwork in May and June 2007 and located three small boats — one modern and two unidentified — in the sonar data. After identifying 43 magnetic targets that couldn’t be readily associated with modern features, the project team proposed to dive and verify the magnetic targets during a 2008 NOAA Ocean Exploration grant-funded project: Valcour Bay Archaeological Dive Verification Project."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Archaeological and Oceanographic Exploration of Sea of Crete and Northern Black Sea",
"piname":"Ballard, Robert",
"affiliation":"Institute for Exploration",
"topic":"Archaeology/ Exploration",
"abstract":"This international, multi-institutional project entailed exploration in the Sea of Crete and Black Sea, both of which were largely unexplored due to geopolitical reasons despite the promising potential for discovery. Anticipating the University of Rhode Island Inner Space Center’s support for telepresence on the forthcoming NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, the project team demonstrated telepresence with remotely operated vehicle operations on Nato Research Vessel Alliance. Telepresence enabled principal investigators to participate in the expedition remotely from shore-based facilities and engaged students and the public in live educational programs. To facilitate and expedite seafloor mapping, oceanographic data collection, and target identification, the project team also deployed an autonomous underwater vehicle on the Ukrainian research vessel Flamingo. This project’s efforts contributed to the development of telepresence infrastructure for Okeanos Explorer."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Biogeography of Deep-Sea Corals from North Pacific Seamounts and Discovery of New Species Using Molecular Methods",
"piname":"Baco-Taylor, Amy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project team tested genetic markers for use as DNA barcoding markers in deep-sea octocorals, examined the geographic distribution of haplotypes, and improved species identifications in the target taxa — Paragorgiidae and the genus Narella in the family Primnoidae. The team sequenced 143 specimens of Paragorgiidae and 62 specimens of Narella for five and six genes, respectively. They identified the use of three of the most variable genetic markers that could be used to identify about 80% of the species and suggested that a multi-marker approach is required to use DNA barcoding methods for species separation in octocorals. Their study of the distribution of haplotypes revealed narrow depth ranges and geographic distributions. Additional results included a number of Paragorgiidae species new to science and the realization that species have narrower geographic and depth distributions than previous studies found using single genes or morphology. Project findings were highly significant for informing management and conservation of seamounts and deep-sea corals and catalyzed additional projects using genetic markers as barcodes on a broader taxonomic and geographic scale."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Continued Archaeological Survey of the Revolutionary War Transport Fleet in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island",
"piname":"Abbass, D. K.",
"affiliation":"Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"The main objective of the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project was to understand the technical and sociological differences between the Royal Navy and privately owned transports hired by the British during the American Revolution. The project team also sought to locate and identify different varieties of transport while investigating combatant communication through ships and the use of ships as prisons. To achieve these goals, the team searched Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, for the fleet of 13 British transports that were sunk as a blockade in 1778. During a previous investigation, they located what they believed to be six of these ships, all artifact-rich. During their 2007 side-scan sonar survey, they confirmed the locations of these known sites and identified three more ballast piles in the study area that required further ground truthing to determine if they were of the same era. Over four weeks in 2007 and 2008, the team made non-disturbance maps of four of the initial sites and collected seven artifacts, which they examined back at their research facility all as part of their multi-year study of the Revolutionary War shipwrecks in Rhode Island."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Cumberland Club Middle School Underwater Archeology Program, for Norfolk Public School System ",
"piname":"Hurst, Jennifer",
"affiliation":"Hampton Roads Naval Museum",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"The Hampton Roads Naval Museum conducted a summer enrichment program, giving students the opportunity to experience being historians, archeologists, and marine scientists. This unique, interdisciplinary, collaborative, all-inclusive, no-cost, and merit-based program fostered interests in oceanographic and archaeological science among middle school students. Seventh-grade students from Virginia Beach and Norfolk public schools, primarily from the largely underserved Norfolk Public School system, were selected to participate in the program. The students studied the wreck of the USS Cumberland and the history of Hampton Roads during the Civil War and gained knowledge and hands-on experience using specialized equipment and received mentoring support from field professionals."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"The SMILE Program Ocean Science Curriculum",
"piname":"Englander, Carol",
"affiliation":"The Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences Program",
"topic":"Education",
"abstract":"Using curricula developed by NOAA Ocean Exploration, the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) Program completed a three-year grant project to promote knowledge and awareness of ocean sciences among teachers and students. They also organized three summer workshops to train teachers on these curricula. Participating teachers implemented the curricula in their SMILE clubs for 12 weeks each fall semester within the three-year program period. Participating students presented NOAA-based activities to parents, family members, and educators during family science nights. The program also included trips to visit the New England and Mystic aquariums, Research Vessel Endeavor and remotely operated vehicle Hercules, the University of Rhode Island’s Inner Space Center and Coastal Institute. It enabled elementary, middle, and high school students and teachers to develop an appreciation for and an in-depth awareness of the complexities of ocean environments as well as the challenges and excitement associated with ocean exploration."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Florida's Deepwater Oases: Exploration and Characterization of Deep Reef Ecosystems",
"piname":"Messing, Charles G.",
"affiliation":"Nova Southeastern University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"To explore, map, and characterize the relatively unknown deepwater reef ecosystems off the east coast of Florida, this multi-institutional project team conducted four submersible dives in the southern Strait of Florida in 2007. Two dives were on deepwater Lophelia reefs — one on the Miami Terrace and another in a sinkhole on Pourtalès Terrace at depths between 286 and 823 meters (938 and 2,700 feet). The team conducted two transects to take images over deepwater coral habitats and analyzed them with the Coral Point Count with Excel extensions software. Interdisciplinary research topics included coral habitat characterization and mapping; bioactive compound screening; geology; fish behavior; deepwater coral reproduction, respiration, and genetics; slit snails (Pleurotomariidae); and the role of agglutinated foraminifera on deep-reef habitats. During this project, the team collected 15 geological samples, 18 biological samples, and 34 invertebrate subsamples. Five live coral specimens were collected to study their genetics, reproduction, growth, and age."
},
{
"year":"FY07",
"title":"Earthquakes and endangered whales: Passive acoustic exploration off Greenland and Iceland",
"piname":"Mellinger, David",
"affiliation":"Oregon State University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered cetaceans. To explore the conditions of North Atlantic right whales and other large cetaceans and examine seismic activities on the Reykjanes Rift, this project team collected acoustic data south of Iceland and east of the southern tip of Greenland. They deployed autonomous hydrophone instruments and associated moorings at five sites for a 16-month deployment period (spring 2007 through summer). These instruments continuously sampled the 1900 Hz frequency band before being recovered. The project team then analyzed the data to detect sounds of large cetaceans using an existing automatic detection software to detect candidate right whale calls. Their preliminary analysis revealed over 2,000 right whale calls, mostly west of the Reykjanes Rift, and a clear seasonal peak in late summer/early autumn. They also used custom software to detect low- to moderate-magnitude earthquakes in the hydrophone data. A total of 1646 earthquakes were detected and located along the Reykjanes Rift, showing both steady background seismicity and distinct spatiotemporal clustering of events that were likely magmatic in origin. "
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"New Ocean Resources: Exploration and Drug Discovery in the Twilight Zone",
"piname":"Slattery, Marc",
"affiliation":"University of Mississippi",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Based on the hypothesis that deep reef communities act as nursery habitats and/or refugia for commercially and ecologically important coral reef species, this project team used mixed gas technical diving and rebreathers to document the species boundary between shallow (less than 190 feet) and deep reef communities (more than 190 feet) of the wall system of Little Cayman in the Cayman Islands of the Caribbean. They conducted 358 dives, including 44 that were deeper than 150 feet. Their work included developing a sponge species diversity list and contrasted the sponge communities at the species break; collecting representative species across the depth gradient to compare their biochemical, stable isotope, and molecular profiles and assess connectivity of deep and shallow reefs; installing environmental sensors; and conducting experiments to analyze the biology of the deep reef sponges and corals relative to their shallow-water counterparts. Finally, their education and outreach activities included a teacher-in-residence program, graduate student training, web coverage, and seminars and talks for local residents and coral reef managers."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Seeps of the Inter-American Sea: Biogeochemical Exploration for Chemosynthetic Life Offshore Trinidad",
"piname":"MacDonald, Ian",
"affiliation":"Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project focused on the Campeche Knolls area of the Gulf of Mexico, which contains numerous natural oil seeps, two that are on large flows of solidified asphalt known to support chemosynthetic communities. During the first year’s expedition, the project team collected seafloor photography, sediment (33 samples), and biological samples to determine the existence of asphalt and associated communities. During the second year’s Remote Sensing and Sea-Truth Measurements of Methane Flux to the Atmosphere (HYFLUX) Hydrate observatory expedition, they collected sediment cores and data on the concentrations of methane derived from natural seeps and deposits of gas hydrate in the region at the air-sea interface, in the water column, and on the seafloor. This project has enhanced the understanding of the dispersal of chemosynthetic fauna among thermogenic hydrocarbon seeps and the nature of fluid seeps and seep communities."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Exploration of Chemosynthetic Habitats of the New Zealand Region",
"piname":"Baco-Taylor, Amy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)",
"topic":"Ocean exploration",
"abstract":"Prior to this expedition, vent, cold seep, whale, and wood-fall ecosystems had been studied in isolation. As our understanding of these systems matured, scientists recognized the overlapping ecological and evolutionary attributes of these ecosystems. During two expeditions, this multinational and multi-institutional project team studied these habitat types together by characterizing a variety of marine communities, from microbes to megafauna, of known but largely unsampled vent and seep sites north and east of New Zealand and sunken wood and whale falls experimentally placed near the seep sites and in the Kaikoura Canyon. The team evaluated species overlap across the habitat types and the underlying ecological and evolutionary causes of differences in community composition."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Cultural Resource Management on the Last Frontier: Data Collection for Threatened Alaska Shipwrecks",
"piname":"McMahan, David",
"affiliation":"Alaska Department of Natural Resources",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Off the coast of Alaska lie an estimated 3,000 known shipwrecks, mostly within state waters. At the time of this project, however, the state did not have a maritime archaeology program or a management plan specific to submerged heritage sites. In the preceding years, new and inexpensive remote sensing, navigation, and diving technologies had removed many of the barriers to exploration and site discovery. This resulted in a drastic increase in the disturbance of protected submerged cultural resources. Project team members worked with the Alaska Office of History and Archaeology to collect baseline information (GPS, sonar, biotic, and trace element data and imagery) about five historic shipwrecks in Southeast Alaska: Clara Nevada (the former Hassler), Princess Kathleen, Princess Sophia, Islander, and Griffson. These baseline data were used by the state to help manage the shipwrecks as protected heritage sites."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Sonar Mapping of Biologically Engineered and Other Complex Habitats at the Shelf Edge and Upper Slope of the South Atlantic Bight",
"piname":"Sedberry, George",
"affiliation":"South Carolina Department of Natural Resources",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project used sonar mapping to characterize and document important fishery grounds, particularly shelf-edge spawning grounds off of the southeastern United States. The project team mapped essential fish habitats, including shelf-edge reefs and associated spawning sites at depths between 45 and 100 meters (148 and 328 feet), upper slope reefs between 130 and 275 meters (427 and 902 feet), tilefish muds and pueblo habitats between 165 and 275 meters (541 and 902 feet), deepwater coral banks between 100 and 1,000 meters (328 and 3,280 feet), scarps, and other complex bottom types. They also targeted coral mounds as important fish habitats that create complex refuges for a diversity of marine organisms. This project was designed to complement current and previous NOAA efforts to map fish habitats using historical oceanographic and fish distribution data, which enabled the team to put historical data — such as fish distribution maps, hydrography, and sediment/rock samples – in the context of surrounding bottom features.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:62788"
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Artificial Seep Exploration Experiment: Recovery Phase",
"piname":"Carney, Robert",
"affiliation":"Louisiana State University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Traditional approaches to studying deep chemosynthetic communities don’t support the identification of the factors that control the establishment and persistence of these communities. This project team proposed using artificial biogenerators to study the spatial aspects of community establishment. With previous support from NOAA Ocean Exploration, the team had deployed 48 sulfide biogenerators at a depth of 500 meters (1,640 feet) on the continental slope off Louisiana. Following a three-year deployment, they recovered them. All recovered devices were sulfidic and supported bacterial mats, and colonization by chemosynthetic tubeworms was at its earliest stage. The team discovered that small worms were present only in six devices deployed in close proximity to seeps. Devices away from seeps were sulfidic, but did not have a tubeworm population. An unexpected result of the project was that the devices themselves had also been colonized by a chemosynthetic lucinid clam. The team was unable to characterize the microbial populations due to very high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and other plant decay products. "
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Winter Oceanographic Exploration of an Offshore Arctic Ecosystem - Assisted by Narwhals ",
"piname":"Laidre, Kristin",
"affiliation":"Greenland Institute of Natural Resources",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The purpose of this project was to test the feasibility of using narwhals (Monodon monoceros) as a platform for collecting oceanographic data in remote inaccessible areas of the Arctic. During the first leg of the project in summer 2006, the team tagged and tracked three narwhals in Greenland’s Melville Bay with satellite-linked recorders to collect water column temperature profiles in the pack ice to depths greater than 1,500 meters (4,921 feet). During the second leg in April 2007 in the narwhal’s wintering grounds in Baffin Bay, scientists collected oceanographic samples via CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) casts to calibrate the temperatures collected by the narwhals, tagged another narwhal, and recorded acoustics using hydrophones and sonobuoys. The team’s approach offered the first high-resolution, real-time oceanographic data from offshore Baffin Bay in winter and provided important ecological information necessary to explain forcing factors on narwhal and pack ice relationships. The project provided new data in unexplored regions of the Arctic as well as a number of new directions for future studies of narwhals."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Exploring Two Albemarle Sound Rivers",
"piname":"Babits, Lawrence",
"affiliation":"East Carolina University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Thousands of ships are known to have been lost off the North Carolina coast, but less is known about vessels lost or abandoned in the rivers and sounds of the Albemarle Pamlico Estuarine System. Information on small workboats, for which plans never existed, is scarce. To shed light on these vessels, the project team performed a maritime archaeological survey of two rivers that enter Albemarle Sound in northeastern North Carolina. Prior work by East Carolina University and the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch uncovered many submerged sites in Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. By consolidating information on known sites based on historical research and local informants to evaluate vessel depositional patterning, the project team integrated remote sensing and archaeological ground-truthing techniques to explore two Albemarle Sound rivers and located numerous submerged sites."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Search for the Bonhomme Richard, Flagship of John Paul Jones",
"piname":"Neyland, Robert S.",
"affiliation":"Naval Historical Center",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project team conducted a systematic remote sensing survey off England’s northeast coast to search for potential shipwreck sites and the remains of USS Bonhomme Richard. They surveyed 50 square miles using magnetometry and side-scan sonar systems in the area most likely to contain the Bonhomme Richard wreck. Project outputs included a map and database of potentially significant cultural resources, geological features, and the distribution of bottom sediments in the project area; a computerized drift model that synthesized the historical data collected; and interpretation and prioritization of individual magnetic anomalies, anomaly complexes, and acoustic targets according to their potential cultural significance and association to Bonhomme Richard. The team planned to return to the target sites with a remotely operated vehicle to help them further evaluate these sites’ likelihood of being the target vessel."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Search for the Trouvadore",
"piname":"Keith, Donald",
"affiliation":"Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project was driven by the hypothesis that a sizable proportion of the present-day native population of the Turks and Caicos Islands were descendants of survivors who arrived from Africa when the Spanish slave ship Trouvadore wrecked in 1841 near Breezy Point on East Caicos. The team’s archival research confirmed this hypothesis. They conducted an expansive search for the archaeological remains of Trouvadore using remote sensing, site testing, visual search, and video. Their magnetometer survey identified 84 magnetic anomalies in the search area that were potentially pieces of historic debris or anchors. The team planned to continue their search for the wreck, which, if located, would serve as a cultural icon for the Turks and Caicos Islands and their populations."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Autonomous Rapid High Resolution Mapping of Ancient Deep Water Shipwrecks and Geologic Features",
"piname":"Foley, Brendan",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Archaeology/Exploration",
"abstract":"This project was conducted in two phases in the Atlantic Ocean off Massachusetts and in the Aegean Sea. It was an interdisciplinary and international collaboration designed to advance methods for ocean sciences including marine geochemistry, geology, and archaeology. The team conducted operations in challenging marine environments using a human occupied vehicle (HOV), an advanced autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), and a remotely operated vehicle. The HOV and AUV were equipped with precision navigation technology, and the HOV was also equipped with an in situ mass spectrometer. This project was the first science program to deploy a mass spectrometer from an HOV and set a new trajectory for the collection of chemical data in the marine environment. The project team collected full datasets over a variety of seafloor features, including cold seeps, hydrothermal vents, and shipwrecks, and advanced scientific methodology and knowledge."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Lake Champlain Shipwreck Survey",
"piname":"Cohn, Arthur ",
"affiliation":"Lake Champlain Maritime Museum",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"Between 1996 and 2003, nearly all of the New York and Vermont bottomlands of Lake Champlain — almost 777 square kilometers (300 square miles) — were surveyed by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) using side-scan sonar. This project was a continuation of LCMM’s work to locate, document, and manage submerged cultural resources on the bottomlands of Lake Champlain. In 2006, the LCMM team surveyed nine small areas not adequately studied during previous survey seasons and re-surveyed an area of bottomlands where two circa-1800 commercial era sloops were lost. During these surveys, they located 350 acoustic anomalies inconsistent with surrounding bottom conditions. In July 2006, they dove on two targets they believed to be cultural resources. The first was a Champlain canal boat built between 1823 and 1846, a historically significant site eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The second was an early-to-mid-20th century work barge likely related to the maintenance of Burlington, Vermont, oil storage facilities. It contained significant recreational potential as a snorkeling site within the Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserve, Lake Champlain’s system of historic wrecks open to scuba divers."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Indianola Archeological Remote-Sensing Survey",
"piname":"Hoyt, Steve",
"affiliation":"Texas Historical Commission",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project team conducted archeological fieldwork along the submerged waterfront of Indianola, Texas, a once thriving port city. Their investigations involved two stages. The first stage was an extensive remote sensing survey using a magnetometer and side-scan sonar. The second stage included diving investigations by volunteer divers to identify and assess targets located and prioritized during the first stage. During this project, the team located and assessed elements of the submerged historic landscape of an abandoned port city, including historic shipwrecks and other maritime features associated with one of the most historically significant locations in Texas."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"A Maritime Archaeological Survey off the Virginia Capes",
"piname":"Mather, Ian (Rod) ",
"affiliation":"University of Rhode Island",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"For much of eastern North America, the story of English colonization provides the framework for understanding its early non-Native American history. Although England’s early activity in the New World was maritime in nature, finding direct evidence underwater is daunting. Following a 1983 discovery of a late 16th century English cannon about 74 kilometers (46 miles) outside the entrance to Chesapeake Bay off North Carolina and Virginia, this project team developed the most likely explanations for the cannon’s presence and conducted a field investigation in 2006 aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson. They collected and processed side-scan and multibeam data, assessing targets and identifying those most suitable for further exploration. They created a database of all targets (approximately 200) and cross-referenced textual data with images."
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Hydrothermal Exploration of the Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge",
"piname":"German, Christopher ",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project team carried out a detailed investigation of the geological and biological diversity of a series of previously unknown hydrothermal fields on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the South Atlantic using autonomous underwater vehicle ABE. They used oceanographic sensors to search for sources of hydrothermal venting, mapped the seafloor where the new vents were located using high-resolution multibeam sonar, and photographed the new vents and their biological communities.This work set the stage for sampling and first-order site characterization with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).The team demonstrated ABE’s ability to precisely locate diffuse-flow sites as well as high-temperature vents and the effectiveness of using ABE together with a ROV. The team conducted 11 ABE dives, which resulted in the discovery of six new hydrothermal fields at four different sites. Key highlights of their expedition included discovery of the world’s hottest vent at ≥407°C (765°F) and the precise location of a new vigorous tectonically hosted vent. "
},
{
"year":"FY06",
"title":"Zooplankton Biodiversity in Tropical/Subtropical Atlantic Ocean Waters: a CoML Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) Partnership Project",
"piname":"Wiebe, Peter H.",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"In the first year of this project, this team used integrated morphological and molecular analysis to assess zooplankton diversity in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones of the Sargasso Sea to depths of 5,000 meters (16,404 feet). A field survey in April 2006 included scientists, staff, and students associated with the Census of Marine Zooplankton, an oceanic field project of the Census of Marine Life. The fieldwork involved at-sea analysis of samples and identification of specimens by expert taxonomists as well as DNA sequencing to determine barcodes for species recognition and discovery. The project team also collected environmental data and zooplankton samples with a Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOCNESS) between 1,000 and 5,000 meters (3,281-16,404 feet) and two smaller MOCNESS above 1,000 meters (3,281 feet). The team identified more than 500 species, with approximately 1,500 specimens placed in a queue for barcoding and 87 species barcoded at sea. In the second year of the project, the project team conducted a similar study in the tropical/subtropical eastern Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa on the German Icebreaker, Research Vessel Polarstern. The DNA barcoding lab at sea determined 122 DNA sequences representing 66 species and the team submitted 2,043 individual specimens of 338 definitively identified species and 51 tentatively identified species of zooplankton for barcoding.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.cmarz.org/jg/serv/CMarZ/inventory.html1%7Bdir=www.cmarz.org/jg/dir/CMarZ/,info=cmarz.whoi.edu/jg/info/CMarZ/INVENTORY%7D?project%20eq%20RHB0603"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Exploring Hydrothermal System Response to Magma Supply and Crustal Thickness Gradients Along the Galapagos Spreading Center, 89.5 - 94 W",
"piname":"Haymon, Rachel",
"affiliation":"University of California, Santa Barbara",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"To explore the effects of mantle hotspots on mid-ocean ridge volcanic-hydrothermal systems, this project team conducted a six-week field program from November 2005 to January 2006 to observe volcanic and hydrothermal features along the Galapagos Spreading Center (GSC). They mapped the fine-scale bathymetry and acoustic reflectance properties of the GSC within the study area, conducted extensive surveys for hydrothermal plumes, sampled the plumes, located the seafloor vents from which the plumes originated, and identified the visible properties of the vents and their geologic settings. The team reported the first active, high-temperature black smokers to be found within the GSC and documented older, inactive sites. Due to finding aged lava fields and mature vents, the team determined that the ridge was in a quiescent phase of volcanic and hydrothermal activity. Vent fauna along the GSC were sparse in the team’s survey area; the team hypothesized that animal scarcity was attributable to far distances between vent sites as well as declining diffuse flow.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:56845"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Mapping and Characterization of Deep-Sea Coral Ecosystems off the Coast of Florida",
"piname":"Brooke, Sandra",
"affiliation":"Oregon Institute of Marine Biology",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"With the global depletion of coastal fisheries, commercial fishing vessels are moving into deeper waters and harvesting fish and crustacean species that are frequently associated with complex coral structures. This project team saw an urgent need to explore and characterize these deep-sea coral ecosystems for conservation and research purposes. They focused on the high-relief ecosystems that support coral communities on the southwest Florida shelf and the east coast of Florida from Jacksonville to Miami, then visited 14 sites during an expedition that featured seven days of diving with a submersible. The team characterized sites using in situ observations, image collection, and sampling of macrofauna. They identified dominant fish species associated with coral communities, recorded site numbers, coordinates, and depth ranges, and described the geology, hydrography, and characteristic features of each study area. \r",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:2517"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Continental Slope Coral Banks of the Southeastern United States: Exploring the Distributions, Ecology, and Biology of Deep Coral Habitats and Associated Fauna",
"piname":"Ross, Steve W.",
"affiliation":"University of North Carolina Wilmington",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Using Johnson-Sea-Link, the project team conducted 19 submersible dives over 17 operational days at six deep coral sites along the southeastern U.S. (SEUS) slope. As a continuation of their deep reef research and exploration, the team conducted whole water column sampling to identify the full spectrum of fauna and associated hydrography in their study area. They defined benthic fish and invertebrate community structures, classified reef and off-reef habitat zones and documented faunal affinities, obtained proxy productivity records from black corals, and provided at-sea education and science research experiences. The team carried out bottom sampling on reef habitats and conducted standardized video transects to quantify biota. The team identified the need for future work to create detailed seafloor maps, collect additional data from poorly sampled sites, discover new coral banks, complete genetics and aging/climate objectives, increase the replication of bottom transects that are critical for determining faunal habitat affinity over the region, and expand the study area to better characterize SEUS deep coral banks. They also built a database to compare the variety of complex habitats of the study areas.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:56842"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Exploring the Maritime History of the Hudson River",
"piname":"Flood, Roger",
"affiliation":"Stony Brook University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project was a continuation of a very high-resolution sonar mapping and scuba diving investigation focused on possible Revolutionary War artifacts primarily in the Hudson Highlands. Given that much of the Hudson River’s heritage was still hidden beneath the river’s surface despite its long and rich human history, the objective of this project was to identify historically known shipwrecks as well as undocumented sunken vessels and other features for the long-term study, management, and preservation of cultural resources. Based on the team’s diver-reported data, all three of the shipwrecks studied by the dive team could be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Other high-resolution side-scan sonar and multibeam data they collected helped them better understand known features with potential cultural significance. The project team conducted multiple expeditions over the years, developing and applying a uniform description of potential cultural resources throughout the Hudson River."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Mapping and Habitat Characterization of a Deepwater Coral Site on the West Florida Slope",
"piname":"Schroeder, William W.",
"affiliation":"University of Alabama",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project was conducted jointly with a Minerals Management Service-funded investigation of deepwater hard-bottom communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The team’s objective was to select study sites on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope consisting of hard-bottom areas with non-chemosynthetic biological communities, particularly areas with dense assemblages of the coral Lophelia pertusa. The team conducted 14 dives with Johnson-Sea-Link, investigating and describing environmental conditions correlated with the distribution and development of deepwater hard-bottom communities. Using still and video imagery captured during these dives, they characterized the sites’ geology and biology. They also deployed short- and long-term current meter arrays to collect information about the structure of the bottom boundary layer and the variability of the local currents above it and collected near-bottom water samples to detect hydrocarbon seepage. On shore, the team conducted several laboratory studies focused on Lophelia morphology and skeletal density, reproduction, temperature and sediment tolerance, and feeding."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"From Phytoplankton to Whales: Ecological Interactions on Stellwagen Bank",
"piname":"Baumgartner, Mark",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Since most ecosystem studies and modeling efforts focus primarily on lower trophic levels, this project team studied how higher trophic levels affect the structure and functioning of ecosystems, especially complex, open-ocean ecosystems. Over seven days in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS), the team monitored the dynamics of four trophic levels — represented by baleen whales, bait fish, zooplankton, and phytoplankton — using an advanced instrumentation and observation system. Specifically, they tracked the foraging behavior of humpback whales using tags and a real-time acoustic tracking system while simultaneously monitoring the distribution of sand lance using side-scan sonar, zooplankton using an optical plankton counter and a video plankton recorder, and phytoplankton using a fluorometer. The project team explored the spatial and ecological relationships among all four trophic levels present in SBNMS within the context of the local physical oceanographic environment."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Operation Deep-Scope 2005: Characterization of Deep-sea Ecosystems Using New Technology",
"piname":"Frank, Tamara",
"affiliation":"Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project was led by an international team of scientists who deployed the unobtrusive Eye-in-the-Sea camera for 24- and 48-hour recording periods in the Gulf of Mexico. They used a variety of cameras and filters to study polarization and fluorescence in the deep-sea environment and novel collection techniques to collect live deep-sea specimens for research in shipboard labs. Using the submersible Johnson-Sea-Link and technical divers, the scientists examined the visual physiology and optics of deep-sea invertebrates. They gathered additional data to determine whether deep-sea organisms are blinded by exposure to brightly lit submersibles, studied fluorescence as a major mechanism of visual communication between organisms at intermediate depths, and analyzed the “breaking” of the ultimate camouflage of invisibility with the ability to see polarized light.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:54831"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Stepping Stones Across the Atlantic: Exploring Pathways and Barriers to the Dispersal and Evolution of Deep-Sea Corals and Associated Fauna",
"piname":"Shank, Timothy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project team mapped an expansive suite of coral and associated faunal habitat distributions via bottom-imaging surveys and collected live and fossilized coral as well as associated species endemic to the New England and Corner Rise Seamounts. They collected more than 1,000 invertebrate samples belonging to over 150 species over 16 dives with remotely operated vehicle Hercules. Samples included octocorals, black corals, sponges, and other fauna living on seamount substrate that could help us understand the evolutionary pathways associated with seamount fauna as well as patterns of biogeographic and biodiversity in the deep sea. The team also collected imagery to produce photographic maps to characterize the biology of the sampled seamount habitats. These data enhanced understanding of how the composition and distribution of species on seamounts in the North Atlantic differ from each other. They also recovered more than 1,000 fossil samples from seamounts spanning the western basin of the North Atlantic and from a wide range of depths, significantly enhancing the breadth and size of previous collections.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:56843"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Deep-sea Stepping Stones: Linking the New England Seamounts and Mid-Atlantic Ridge",
"piname":"Auster, Peter J.",
"affiliation":"University of Connecticut",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project used remotely operated vehicle Hercules to explore the ecology of the New England and Corner Rise Seamounts via direct observation and sampling. During the expedition, the team identified new coral species, began studying the relationships between marine organisms throughout the seamount chain, and collected multibeam data to develop an atlas and better understand the processes that shaped these seamounts. They also collected video census and behavior data for a wide diversity of deep-sea fishes and significant data on coral growth, mapped intra- and inter-seamount coral and fish distributions, and combined their digital and physical data with those from previous expeditions in the area. This work resulted in important new insights about seamount ecology and contributed directly to ongoing regional and international management of deep-sea biological diversity.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:56843"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Exploration of Florida West Shelf Blue Holes: Investigation of Physical and Biological Characteristics and Archaeological Implications of Unique Karst Features",
"piname":"Culter, James",
"affiliation":"Mote Marine Laboratory",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"In contrast with their counterparts on land, offshore karst features had not been characterized in the scientific literature despite serving as island habitats for reef communities and pelagic fish aggregates. To fill in this knowledge gap, this project team explored submarine karst features of the west Florida continental shelf using a remotely operated vehicle, deployed instruments, and divers. Through literature searches and discussions with peers and sport divers, they identified 20 karst features more than 48 kilometers (30 miles) offshore. They visited 12 of these features to study their size and depth and obtain photographs. At some sites, they collected ocean temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, conductivity, pH, chlorophyll, and water quality data. Among their discoveries was the largest known cave on the west Florida shelf. Preliminary mapping indicated its dimensions as 62 meters (205 feet) in height with a top diameter of 23 meters (75 feet) and a bottom diameter of 76 meters (250 feet). They also found a flowing saltwater spring in the bottom of Pride Sink with water temperatures warmer than those around them, indicating a possible connection to a deep aquifer, and discovered that the tides were pumping water in and out of Megadome and Diamond Rock caves, which suggested significant water movement through subterranean karst connections, and that hurricanes play an important role in pushing warmer surface waters into caves."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Survey of the Revolutionary War Transport Fleet, Newport RI",
"piname":"Abbass, D. K.",
"affiliation":"Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"This project was part of a long-term study of Revolutionary War shipwrecks in Rhode Island state waters. Among over 208 vessels known to have been lost during that period, 13 were privately owned British transports sunk in Newport in August 1778. One of these transports was HMS Endeavour of Captain James Cook’s first circumnavigation. The project team previously preliminarily investigated two probable transports, but remote sensing surveys did not locate any 18th century ballast piles. For this project, the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission and the University of Rhode Island partnered to survey an area where shipwreck sites were most likely to be found. They conducted a side-scan sonar survey in Newport Harbour and identified eight promising targets. Project divers explored the sonar targets and found a large late 19th or early 20th century anchor and three 18th century ballast piles that were likely some of the sought-after transports. The divers also found an additional ballast pile not seen in the side-scan sonar, which suggested there were more transports to be found in the area. In a public meeting in 2006, the project and its partners briefed Rhode Island then Governor Don Carcieri about the discoveries and the possibility of locating Endeavour, which generated a great deal of international press."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"The Hidden Ocean: Explorations Under the Ice of the Western Arctic – The Pelagic Fauna: Phase II",
"piname":"Hopcroft, Russell",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Within the Arctic Ocean, the Canada Basin’s isolation has predisposed the area to the evolution of unique species. To inventory the basin’s marine life and characterize the physical and chemical environment of its sea ice, pelagic and benthic habitats, and ecosystems, this project team deployed a remotely operated vehicle, multiple net systems, and scuba divers to observe and sample the full size range of zooplankton species inhabiting the basin, from the surface to the seafloor. The team determined that depth, in conjunction with physical properties of the water, provided the community’s major structuring element. Nearly half of the community was observed below 100 meters (328 feet). The team found that the top predators were a wide assortment of gelatinous zooplankton, many of which were undersampled by nets. They also discovered a dozen new species, though the basic diversity of the community remained undersampled.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:2419"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"The Hidden Ocean: Explorations Under the Ice of the Western Arctic - Life in the Crystal Palace of the Sea Ice - Phase II",
"piname":"Gradinger, Rolf",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project explored ecological communities under the ice of the western Arctic Ocean. The investigative team used ice coring and scuba diving to examine the abundances of sea ice meiofauna and macrofauna in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas as well as the Canada Basin. Meiofauna abundance was estimated in the bottom 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) of level sea ice collected through triplicate ice core sampling at each location and in ice chunks from submerged ridges. The project team found that ice meiofauna was more abundant in the bottom 20-30 centimeters of each core (7.9-11.8 inches) than at the ice-water interface. For both meiofauna and macrofauna, they observed the highest abundances in the thickest ice. The team proposed that pressure ridges were likely accumulation regions for sea ice fauna during periods of enhanced ice melt and might be crucial for the survival of ice-endemic species.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:2419"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Integrated Geochemical and Microbial Characterization of Ridge-flank Basement Fluids",
"piname":"Cowen, James",
"affiliation":"University of Hawaii",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"The oceanic basement offers great potential for microbial growth and geomicrobial control of large geochemical fluxes, but examinations of previously inaccessible basement environments of sediment-buried ridge flanks and basins were preliminary at the time of this project. Given the difficulty of making geochemical measurements of rapidly changing temperature and redox conditions while simultaneously sampling for microbiological parameters, the team affixed Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit (CORK) observatories to Integrated Ocean Drilling Program boreholes. They designed and developed a CORK sampling manifold and an in situ research system called the “GeoMicrobiology In Situ Cork Research Observatory for Biosphere Experiments (GeoMICROBE) Sled” to study biogeochemical properties and microbial diversity in subseafloor hydrothermal fluids. The GeoMICROBE system consisted of a multisampling in situ filtration system and an onboard electrochemical analyzer. The team successfully deployed the system in the Cascadia Basin, demonstrating the potential of GeoMICROBE as a versatile platform for investigations of the deep sediment-buried basement environment."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Using Industrial, Deepwater, Remotely Operated Vehicles to Census Planktonic Organisms",
"piname":"Benfield, Mark C.",
"affiliation":"Louisiana State University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project was part of the global academic-industrial partnership called “Scientific Industrial ROV Partnership using Existing Industrial Technology” (SERPENT). It leveraged industrial remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and other infrastructure owned by BP (the multinational oil and gas company), Oceaneering, and other companies, to study planktonic and nektonic organisms in the waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico’s continental slope. The project team worked with the ROV operators to develop three types of ROV survey strategies: post-riser inspection surveys, dedicated surveys, and opportunistic encounters. Using these approaches, ROV operators collected data and identified and documented planktonic and nektonic organisms at five primary and several secondary deepwater sites where ROVs were already in use."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Exploring New Patterns of Biological Succession at the Rosebud Hydrothermal Vents - Galapagos Rift",
"piname":"Shank, Timothy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration/Technology",
"abstract":"This project team explored the Galápagos Rift between the Rosebud hydrothermal field and the Inca Transform to investigate the role fluid chemistry and microbial assemblages play in the development of nascent hydrothermal communities. They conducted in situ colonization experiments, mapped the biology and geology of the Rosebud vent field through mosaic imaging, and explored the eastern rift for undiscovered low- and high-temperature hydrothermal systems. Using an array of deep-ocean vehicles — including human occupied vehicle Alvin and TowCam, a digital towed camera system — the team deployed experiments, collected samples, made seafloor observations, and collected digital imagery. During a dive in Alvin at the Rosebud hydrothermal vent site, the team assessed the changes that occurred to the biological community structure and the nature of venting since the team’s last visit in 2002. The team discovered that faunal communities were dominated by Riftia tubeworms and bathymodiolid mussels. Both Riftia and mussel communities had increased laterally and vertically. Within each of these types of assemblages at Rosebud, the team also collected data over a 10-day period to assess the heterogeneity and diversity of environments hosting these communities.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:41578"
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"The Arcadia Cruise: Assessing Long-term Changes in Tropical Reef-coral Distribution Along the Atlantic Continental Margin, Southeastern United States",
"piname":"Kirby-Smith, William W.",
"affiliation":"Duke University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Reef corals are typically confined to oligotrophic tropical waters. Along the U.S. East Coast, at least two tropical coral species inhabit temperate rocky outcrops as far north as the North Carolina inner shelf. During an expedition along the Atlantic continental shelf of the southeastern United States between Cape Fear and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, this project team confirmed the presence and distribution of Solenastrea hyades, Siderastrea siderea, and Oculina varicosa at several target locations. Specific sites were mapped to approximately 1 meter (3.3 feet) resolution using multibeam sonar, and coral specimens were collected for molecular, biochemical, and geochemical analyses. The project team then determined the population genetics of these coral species, the phylogeny of their algal symbionts, and the extent to which the structure and composition of carbonate skeletal material reflected the variability of local environmental conditions."
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"First Exploration of Hydrothermal Ecosystems on the Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge",
"piname":"Shank, Timothy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"This project used autonomous vehicle technology to determine the biological character of vent fields on the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge and how these potentially unique ecosystems relate to the global biogeographic framework. The project team adopted a nested autonomous survey approach using the Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE) to understand the dispersal and evolutionary patterns of vent fauna. Accomplishments included locating the first known hydrothermal systems, with both black smokers and biological communities, in the South Atlantic; autonomous discovery of a hydrothermal vent field without any prior knowledge of the seafloor terrain; discovering the hottest black smoker known on earth (407°C or 764.6°F); documenting hydrothermal biological communities; and using a new technique to locate, identify, and image the center of a previously unknown vent field based on water column sampling."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Macrobiological Characterization of Vailulu'u Seamount, an Active Volcano off American Samoa",
"piname":"Young, Craig",
"affiliation":"University of Oregon",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The project team explored the crater and flanks of Vailulu’u seamount by submersible and discovered a new volcanic cone in its crater. This cone, named Nafanua, grew from the crater floor at a depth of 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) to a summit depth of 700 meters (2,297 feet) in less than four years and was predicted to reach the ocean surface within decades. The project team also found that Nafanua’s location coincided with a linear array of seismic epicenters observed from April to June 2000. Hydrothermal vents filled the Vailulu’u crater with a thick suspension of particulates and toxic fluids that mixed with seawater. Despite this, the Nafanua summit vent area was inhabited by a thriving population of eels (Dysommina rugosa) that fed on midwater shrimp brought by anticyclonic currents at the volcano summit and rim. The moat and crater floor around the new volcano were littered with dead metazoans that had likely died from exposure to hydrothermal emissions. Acid-tolerant polychaetes (Polynoidae) lived in this environment, feeding on bacteria from decaying fish carcasses. Although eels thrived in hydrothermal vents at the summit of Nafanua, venting elsewhere in the crater caused mass mortality. Paradoxically, the same anticyclonic currents that delivered food to the eels were thought to concentrate a wide variety of nektonic animals in a death trap of toxic hydrothermal fluids. The project team concluded that Vailulu’u was an unpredictable and very active underwater volcano presenting a potential long-term volcanic hazard."
},
{
"year":"FY05",
"title":"Vertical Inventory of Marine Life in the Banda Sea",
"piname":"Madin, Laurence",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The center of shallow water marine biodiversity for Earth’s tropical seas is considered to be in the Coral Triangle between the Pacific and Indian oceans. The goal of this project was to make a vertical survey of the water column in the Celebes Sea, part of the Coral Triangle, to determine whether the biodiversity in the deeper mesopelagic and bathypelagic realms was as rich and diverse as what had been reported for shallow water fishes and corals. The project team spent 10 operational days in the deep basin of the western Celebes Sea, exploring and collecting biological data. They focused on the distribution, biodiversity, and natural history of epipelagic, midwater, and bathypelagic fish and invertebrates. The team used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to conduct surveys in an area noted for its exceptionally high species diversity and endemism of shallow water fishes and invertebrates. The team also used other techniques to investigate the water column, including blue-water divers, benthic baited video RopeCams, a video plankton recorder, bongo nets, and a Tucker trawl. At least three samples collected with the ROV were undescribed species. Patterns of vertical distribution in the midwater were recorded for comparison with other regions, and material collected during blue-water dives was used as part of a phylogenetic study of Thaliacea.",
"dataAccess":"https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/#oedv.lib/Celebes_Sea_2007/"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":" From the Estuary to the Abyss: Exploring Along the Latitude 31-30 Transect",
"piname":"Sedberry, George",
"affiliation":"South Carolina Department of Natural Resources",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"At the time of this project, relatively little was known about the habitats of the deep continental slope of the southeastern United States. To fill this knowledge gap, the project team conducted submersible observations and collections at depths ranging from 55 to 1,000 meters (180 to 3,281 feet). Their work built on previous work in the area from the coast down to 55 meters (180 feet). The team documented fishes as well as habitats and bottom types seen. They also analyzed infaunal invertebrates collected by the submersible and a sediment sampler, fauna inhabiting sponges and tunicates, isotope composition of coral samples to determine paleo-oceanographic conditions, and coral growth rates.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:72309"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Operation Deep-Scope: Characterization of Deep-sea Biological Communities Using Advanced Optical Techniques",
"piname":"Widder, Edith",
"affiliation":"Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute",
"topic":"Exploration/Technology",
"abstract":"This project team studied how light and vision affect marine animals in the shallows and the deep ocean. They used a variety of advanced photographic and other technologies to observe and collect deep-ocean life forms at three sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These technologies included Johnson-Sea-Link, an autonomous and unobtrusive deep-sea observatory (Eye-in-the-Sea), special light and filter systems to spot fluorescent animals, deepwater traps, and blue water divers. The team observed that fluorescence in midwater communities was very common and suggested that fluorescence and bioluminescence may be responsible for certain biological functions (e.g., sexual display, to attract prey). In addition to other novel discoveries and possible explanations of fluorescence, this project provided a glimpse into how fluorescence might be used by marine animals to communicate.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1966"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Ocracoke Remote Sensing Survey 2004",
"piname":"Runyan, Timothy",
"affiliation":"East Carolina University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"abstract":"During a two-part program between 2002 and 2005, researchers with the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University searched for submerged cultural resources, primarily shipwrecks, between Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout, North Carolina. Their Ocracoke Remote Sensing Survey focused on Ocracoke Inlet as historical archives revealed a high concentration of vessels lost there that dated back to the sixteenth century. The project team first created a GIS database with location, date, ship type, and other data. Then they let the database generate targeted areas for exploration with shipboard side-scan sonar and a magnetometer as the primary scientific instruments of discovery. ",
"dataAccess":"https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/#oedv.lib/Ocracoke_Shipwreck_2004/"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Tagging of Pacific Pelagics: Using Organisms as Bioprobes for the Ocean Environment",
"piname":"Costa, Daniel",
"affiliation":"University of California",
"topic":"Technology",
"abstract":"This project team deployed electronic tags to collect biological and oceanographic data on two marine species: the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) and salmon shark (Lamna ditropis). Objectives included testing the ability of the tagged animals to collect and deliver high quality oceanographic data and the ability of the tags to measure changes in light level as a proxy for water column chlorophyll profiles. The team tagged 20 northern elephant seals. Out of 20 tags, 18 tags with temperature and light-level data were collected. They also tagged 30 salmon sharks in the Port Gravina region of Prince William Sound with position-only satellite tags. A subset of these sharks were also tagged with tags capable of transmitting water temperature data. The data collected from this project offered new insights on the movements of these species and oceanographic characteristics of the Pacific Ocean. For example, salmon sharks were found to migrate to the same geographic regions over multiple years, and data collected from the elephant seals provided information on remote, large-scale eddies. The tags on the seals were also able to collect accurate information on light levels that enabled reasonable estimation of chlorophyll concentration."
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Deep-Sea Corals as Habitat for Macroinvertebrates in the Gulf of Alaska",
"piname":"Shirley, Thomas",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Deep-sea corals are slow-growing organisms that provide structure and habitat for fish and invertebrates in the cold, deep ocean. Many questions remained about these organisms at a time when increased bottom-trawling and dredging were raising concern about their resilience. This project team investigated deep-sea corals and macroinvertebrate assemblages at seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska, conducting video transects and collecting samples with human occupied vehicle Alvin. Over 17 dives, they identified and quantified invertebrates, including a number of species unknown to science, and collected over 300 samples for further genetic analysis. The team identified suspension-feeding organisms, including brittlestars (Ophiuroidea) and crustaceans (Crustacea), as well as predators of deep-sea coral like sea stars (Hippasteria spp., Solaster spp., and others), sea spiders (Pycnogonida), and nudibranchs (Gastropoda). The expedition also contributed detailed bathymetry maps for each explored seamount. ",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:72310"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Distribution of Deep-Sea Corals in the Gulf of Alaska",
"piname":"Baco-Taylor, Amy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"The Gulf of Alaska contains many seamounts along three chains that likely originated from volcanic hotspots. Seamounts provide benthic habitat to fauna. This project team investigated dispersal and species formation of fauna across differently aged seamounts in the gulf’s northernmost Pratt-Welker seamount chain. Their objectives included exploring and characterizing corals to learn about their composition, abundance, and diversity and how these characteristics change with depth and among the seamounts. Using human occupied vehicle Alvin, they conducted horizontal transects at varying depths, exploring and mapping five seamounts and collecting over 300 samples of deep-sea corals, invertebrates, and substrates. Findings included new species of corals and showed that octocorals (Octocorallia) and black corals (Antipatharia) dominated communities at the sampled seamounts, and the 1,700-meter (5,577 feet) zone had the fewest corals and lowest diversity of the transect depths. Corals were most abundant at the shallowest depth of each seamount; paragorgids (Paragorgiidae) and bamboo corals (Isididae) were the dominant families. ",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:72310"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Seamount Exploration in the Eastern Gulf of Alaska: Contrasting Geology, Microbiology, and Bottom Characteristics",
"piname":"Keller, Randall",
"affiliation":"Oregon State University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Seamount chains in the eastern Gulf of Alaska provide a geologic record of tectonic and volcanic activity in the region over the last 25 million years. Prior to this project, little was understood about the rock chemistry, microbiology, and bottom characteristics of the Pratt-Welker seamount chain (also known as the Kodiak-Bowie seamount chain). The purpose of this project was to expand knowledge about the geological aspects of the chain by creating full-coverage, multibeam bathymetric maps of target seamounts and collecting rock samples during dives with human occupied vehicle Alvin. The project team mapped six seamounts, discovering flat tops and terraced flanks consistent with ancient lava ponds and flows as well as smoothing by slope failures and debris slides. They collected 88 rock samples from five seamounts and analyzed 53 of them for major and trace geochemicals. Further isotopic dating revealed that the studied seamounts range in age from 1 million to 21 million years old and that the oldest features were generally in the northwest section of the chain. Rock types, ages, and compositions were consistent with the hypothesis that the studied seamounts were formed as the Pacific Plate moved toward the northwest over a hotspot in the Earth’s mantle.",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:72310"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Biology, biogeography, and community ecology of Bamboo Corals (Family Isididae) in North American Waters",
"piname":"Etnoyer, Peter",
"affiliation":"Marine Conservation Biology Institute",
"topic":"Exploration",
"abstract":"Bamboo corals (family Isididae) are slow-growing octocorals that can grow exceptionally large at incredible depths. The goals of this project included collecting, preserving, and documenting bamboo corals in the Pratt-Welker seamount chain (also known as the Kodiak-Bowie seamount chain). Using human occupied vehicle Alvin, the project team collected 31 samples of bamboo coral representing five species, most of which were undescribed at the time and abundant across the seamounts. Notable observations included elongated tentacles with stinging nematocysts at the base of some of these corals, predation by sea stars (Hippasteria spp.), and similar community compositions at similar depths across seamounts. A new species of bamboo coral, Isidella tentaculum, was also named and formally described based on samples collected as part of the project. ",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:72310"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Exploring the Russian American Shipwreck Kad’yak",
"piname":"Cantelas, Frank",
"affiliation":"East Carolina University",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"dataAccess":"https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/#oedv.lib/Kad'yak_2004/"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Continuing ‘The New Challenger Expeditions’: Ocean Exploration Then and Now",
"piname":"Bishop, Kristina",
"affiliation":"College of Exploration",
"topic":"Education"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Exploration of Unique Outer Shelf and Slope “Reef” Habitats off the Southeastern United States",
"piname":"Ross, Steve W.",
"affiliation":"University of North Carolina Wilmington",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1633"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Exploring the Maritime Archeology of the Hudson River: Looking Beneath the Surface to a Revolutionary Past",
"piname":"Flood, Roger",
"affiliation":"Stony Brook University",
"topic":"Archaeology"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"2004 ROV Competition: Partnering with NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program to Bring Sanctuary Science and Exploration to Students Nationwide",
"piname":"Zande, Jill",
"affiliation":"Marine Advanced Technology Center",
"topic":"Education/Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Exploring Microbial Interactions and Complexity at Mariana Arc Vents",
"piname":"Moyer, Craig",
"affiliation":"Western Washington University",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ships/thomas_g_thompson/TN167_mb.html"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Satellite Monitoring of Chilean Blue Whales: Solving the Mystery of Their Feeding and Reproductive Movements",
"piname":"Mate, Bruce",
"affiliation":"Oregon State University",
"topic":"Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Titanic Expedition 2004 - High Definition Mapping",
"piname":"Ballard, Robert",
"affiliation":"University of Rhode Island",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:72311"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Search for the War of 1812 Tender HMS Mary",
"piname":"Bilciki, Stephen",
"affiliation":"Maryland Historical Trust",
"topic":"Archaeology"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"A Technology for Robust Unattended Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Operations",
"piname":"Yoerger, Dana",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Live, Interactive, OceanAge Web Events and Activities",
"piname":"McCurdy, Andrea",
"affiliation":"enterACKed, LLC",
"topic":"Education"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"3-D Volumetric modeling of Sea-Floor Objects from ROV Stereo Video",
"piname":"Negahdaripour, Shahriar",
"affiliation":"University of Miami",
"topic":"Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY04",
"title":"Hidden Life in the Nearshore Sea Ice Off Alaska: From Little Diomede to Barrow, Alaska",
"piname":"Gradinger, Rolf",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration/Education"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"The Hidden Ocean: Explorations Within the Ice of the Western Artic - Novel Microorganisms - Phase II",
"piname":"Deming, Jody",
"affiliation":"University of Washington",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"ROV Investigation of the U-166 Shipwreck to Document Archaeological and Biological Aspects of the Wreck Site",
"piname":"Warren, Daniel",
"affiliation":"C&C Technologies, Inc.",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"dataAccess":"https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/#oedv.lib/U-166_2003/"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Enchanced Exploration of Lower-Slope Extreme Environments in the Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Carney, Robert",
"affiliation":"Louisiana State University",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Seamount Surveys of Deepwater Coral Distributions in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands",
"piname":"Baco-Taylor, Amy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1693"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Reproductive Biology and Population Genetics of the Precious corals in the Hawaiian Archipelago",
"piname":"Baco-Taylor, Amy",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1693"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"The Occurrence and Ecology of Deepwater Corals and Associated Communities in the Gulf of Mexico",
"piname":"Schroeder, William W.",
"affiliation":"University of Alabama",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1311"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Opportunistic Research - Documenting Diversity of Deep Sea Corals",
"piname":"Etnoyer, Peter",
"affiliation":"Marine Conservation Biology Institute",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1311"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Submerged Cultural Resources Investigations in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary",
"piname":"Babb, Ivar & Haskell, Benjamin",
"affiliation":"University of Connecticut and NOAA Sanctuaries",
"topic":"Archaeology"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Submarine Canyon and Scavanger Communities of the Hawaiian Slope",
"piname":"Smith, Craig",
"affiliation":"University of Hawaii",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/1693"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Characterization of Deepwater Fish and Precious Corals on the Seamounts Neighboring Hawaii's Most Remote Monk Seal Colony",
"piname":"Parrish, Frank",
"affiliation":"Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/1693"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Benthic Ecosystem Characterization of the Charleston Bump: An Integrated Approach to Exploring Invertebrate Diversity",
"piname":"Stancyk, Stephen",
"affiliation":"University of South Carolina",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1694"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Mounds, Depressions, Scarps, and Caves -- Exploration of Habitat and Species Diversity on the Charleston Bump and Blake Plateau",
"piname":"Sedberry, George",
"affiliation":"Marine Resources Research Institute",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1694"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Underwater Hyperspectral Imaging: New Frontiers in Seafloor Mapping",
"piname":"Reid, Pamela",
"affiliation":"University of Miami",
"topic":"Exploration/Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Quest for the Gaspee: Exploring the Maritime Archaeological Landscape of Revolutionary War Rhode Island",
"piname":"Mather, Roderick",
"affiliation":"University of Rhode Island",
"topic":"Archaeology"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Windows on the Deep: Biological Sampling and High Resolution Mapping at Methane Seeps on the Blake Ridge and Carolina Rise",
"piname":"Ruppel, Carolyn",
"affiliation":"Georgia Institute of Technology",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1931"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Deepwater Exploration of Black Sea",
"piname":"Ballard, Robert",
"affiliation":"Institute for Exploration",
"topic":"Archaeology",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ships/knorr/KN172L15_mb.html"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Mountains in the Sea - Exploring the New England Seamount Chain",
"piname":"Babb, Ivar",
"affiliation":"University of Connecticut",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1674"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Multibeam Sonar on an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle",
"piname":"Yoerger, Dana",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Ocean Quest 2003: Bringing Offshore Research Onshore - A Public Education Program",
"piname":"Luke, Jon",
"affiliation":"Oregon State University",
"topic":"Education"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Development and Distribution of an OE Learning Object Repository",
"piname":"Lopez, Gary",
"affiliation":"Inflection Media",
"topic":"Education"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Using Mixed Gas Technical Diving to Study the Ecology of Deep Coral Reef Communities",
"piname":"Lesser, Michael",
"affiliation":"University of New Hampshire",
"topic":"Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"National ROV Competition for Students: Dev. Next Gen. Of Ocean Explorers, Scientists, Technologists, and Engineers",
"piname":"Zande, Jill",
"affiliation":"Marine Advanced Technology Education Center",
"topic":"Education/Technology"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Our Ocean World Radio Series and Educational Program",
"piname":"Bartishevich, Paul",
"affiliation":"Finger Lakes Productions International",
"topic":"Education"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"AUV for Archaeological Exploration in the Deep Ocean",
"piname":"Mindell, David",
"affiliation":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology",
"topic":"Technology/Archaeology"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Kick’em Jenny: The Evolution of an Active Submarine Arc Volcano",
"piname":"Sigurdsson, Haraldur",
"affiliation":"University of Rhode Island",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://library.oarcloud.noaa.gov/#oedv.lib/Kick'em_Jenny_Volcano_2003/"
},
{
"year":"FY03",
"title":"Inner Space Center: Real-time Access to Deep Water Expeditions",
"piname":"Ballard, Robert",
"affiliation":"Institute for Exploration",
"topic":"Archaeology/Technology/Education"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Large-Scale Ocean Deployment and Experimental Refinement of Low-Cost, Artificial Cold-Sleep Substrates",
"piname":"Carney, Robert",
"affiliation":"Louisiana State University",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Exploration Of Lake Huron’s NMS",
"piname":"Ballard, Robert",
"affiliation":"Institute for Exploration",
"topic":"Archaeology"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Exploration of Vision and Bioluminescence in the Deep-sea Benthos",
"piname":"Tamara, Frank",
"affiliation":"Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/1612"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Hidden Ocean: The Physical Environment, Nutrients,& Pelagic Primary Production",
"piname":"Whitledge, Terry",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Hidden Ocean: Deep-sea Benthos Diversity and Food Web Structure",
"piname":"Iken, Katrin",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Hidden Ocean: The Pelangic Fauna",
"piname":"Hopcroft, Russell",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Hidden Ocean: Life in the Crystal Palace of Sea Ice Communities",
"piname":"Gradinger, Rolf",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Hypothesis-Based Exploration for Novel Microorganisms and Enzymes within the Extreme Physical-Chemical Gradients of Arctic Sea Ice and Deep-Sea Habitats",
"piname":"Deming, Jody",
"affiliation":"University of Washington",
"topic":"Exploration"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Exploration of Unique Outershelf & Slope Habitiats off the Carolinas - South Atlantic Bight",
"piname":"Ross, Steve W.",
"affiliation":"Friends of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/1612"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Characterization of Deep Reef Habitat off the Southeastern U.S.",
"piname":"Sedberry, George",
"affiliation":"South Carolina Department of Natural Resources",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:1612"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Biodiversity of Bear Seamount and Vicinity, Year 1 - A NMFS contribution to the Census of Marine Life through NOAA Ocean Exploration",
"piname":"Vecchione, Michael",
"affiliation":"NOAA NMFS - Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://noaa.sirsi.net/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/x/0/5/?searchdata1=ocn824752551"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Hunley Education Outreach Project",
"piname":"Quinn, Raegan",
"affiliation":"Friends of the Hunley, Inc.",
"topic":"Education"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Autonomous Bethnic Explorer",
"piname":"Yoerger, Dana",
"affiliation":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
"topic":"Technology",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ships/thomas_g_thompson/TN149_mb.html"
},
{
"year":"FY02",
"title":"Exploration of Deep Water Crabs & Other Vertabrates in Gulf of AK",
"piname":"Shirley, Thomas",
"affiliation":"University of Alaska Fairbanks",
"topic":"Exploration",
"dataAccess":"https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ships/atlantis/AT07L15_mb.html"
}
]
}