WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:17.980 I'm very proud that we're celebrating the tenth anniversary of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, 00:00:18.520 --> 00:00:23.680 because it's allowing us to reflect on the one hundred expeditions we've conducted over this last decade. 00:00:23.860 --> 00:00:28.420 And all of the amazing discoveries we've made, that are so important for science, 00:00:28.720 --> 00:00:31.240 but also for our economy and national security. 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.120 The Okeanos Explorer is a national asset. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:44.960 Think about NASA. NASA has launched dozens of space probes to explore deep space. 00:00:45.660 --> 00:00:50.960 We've mapped the surface of Mars and the Moon to a higher resolution than we've mapped own seafloor. 00:00:59.360 --> 00:01:04.880 The deep sea is the largest habitat on Earth, it's the least explored habitat on Earth. 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:08.920 So it's the last, vast unexplored realm. 00:01:09.660 --> 00:01:12.700 We're still really in the observation stage. 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:15.080 A pure natural history stage. 00:01:15.320 --> 00:01:19.180 We're constantly bringing up stuff that has never been described before. 00:01:22.580 --> 00:01:27.100 It's kind of remarkable for me to think that ten years have already passed. 00:01:27.420 --> 00:01:32.380 It's exciting, it's great to see the program has grown a lot over that time. 00:01:32.380 --> 00:01:35.640 There's a lot more participation since we first began. 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:40.720 There are scientists every year who look forward to the next field season starting. 00:01:40.720 --> 00:01:45.640 It's like when do I get my Okeanos fix? I need to see other unexplored parts of the deep ocean. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.280 I can remember very distinctly being on a dive when we found this immense sponge 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:56.160 that turned out to be the largest known sponge in the world. 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.240 Every dive there is something exciting, we're always going to see something new. 00:02:04.600 --> 00:02:13.460 Okeanos Explorer just recently identified a new deep-sea coral reef track about eighty miles long off the U.S. East Coast. 00:02:13.980 --> 00:02:15.500 That really is incredible. 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:21.780 That is like finding an Amazon rainforest, in all of its biodiversity, in the middle of the California desert. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:29.460 We have elevated the importance of this program to the White House and they are really keen 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:35.900 on seeing us, or actually even amplify, the returns on investment we've made. 00:02:43.540 --> 00:02:50.060 My experience in exploration was mostly with human occupied vehicles. 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:58.280 So I was pretty skeptical about telepresence enabled exploration. 00:03:00.420 --> 00:03:09.640 So the opportunity that I had being out on the Okeanos Explorer for the Mariana Trench expedition was really eye opening for me. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:21.320 Not only was I participating in the dive with the other science lead but with scientists calling in from all over the world. 00:03:21.320 --> 00:03:22.920 Literally all over the world. 00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:34.300 So it was very, very cool and it really did take advantage of that excitement and participation in the discovery. 00:03:34.860 --> 00:03:44.680 So you don't have to have a sponge biologist, a fish biologist, or a crustacean biologist on the ship at one time because that's not feasible. 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:52.880 It makes it so much easier for broader participation on these missions of discovery. 00:03:55.400 --> 00:04:00.920 The interest and the buy-in among the scientific community has just grown exponentially. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:08.100 A lot of folks have seen the value of the program through the delivery of real, tangible results and discoveries. 00:04:08.100 --> 00:04:11.400 And have become excited about it and shared that with their colleagues. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:17.600 The fact the program has not just remained for ten years, but has really flourished 00:04:17.880 --> 00:04:22.280 is a testament to its inherent value of the scientific community. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:26.080 For about three years, I worked with the Okeanos Explorer mapping team 00:04:26.080 --> 00:04:31.660 and I think, as of today, they're very close to two million square kilometers of seafloor mapped. 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:34.540 And that's just an incredible contribution. 00:04:36.080 --> 00:04:41.300 When we think about the work the Okeanos Explorer has done in mapping the seafloor over the last ten years 00:04:41.460 --> 00:04:48.180 is adding an immense amount of information to our understanding of the physiography of the seafloor 00:04:48.180 --> 00:04:51.660 and the different biological and physical processes that are going on there. 00:04:56.680 --> 00:05:01.760 As a marine geologist, there have been a number of discoveries that I have been excited about 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:03.600 The brine lakes 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.000 and then the asphalt extrusion we know as the "tar lilies" 00:05:12.400 --> 00:05:17.980 I think for myself personally, the discovery of the seafloor methane seeps off the East Coast of the United States 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:25.720 has been probably the thing that I've been most excited about because it has really fundamentally altered my work. 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:33.260 We went from being aware of potentially no seeps on the East Coast to find seven, eight, maybe even nine hundred. 00:05:34.780 --> 00:05:40.180 And I think the biggest impact of that has been not only the initial discovery by the Okeanos Explorer, 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:45.100 but the fact that, in many cases, scientists have been able to take the observations 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:51.740 and use those as the basis to support further research, further funding for research, and then return to these sites 00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:54.360 and really explore them with even greater detail. 00:06:01.700 --> 00:06:04.920 There are so many things that make the Okeanos program unique. 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:10.600 Starting with seeing parts of the planet that no one has seen before, collecting that baseline data 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.880 that is so important to make management decisions. 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:23.000 And the telepresence capability allows such an engagement that most other vessels don't have. 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:28.380 It means many more people get to be a part of that exploration and that science. 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:35.600 My first cruise with the Okeanos Explorer, when were in the Marianas, we found this hydrothermal vent 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:37.840 that still gives me goosebumps. 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:46.840 Ten stories tall, before that moment had never been imaged before, just gushing black super hot fluid. 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:49.240 It just was incredible. 00:06:51.320 --> 00:06:56.300 I was watching that night and all of a sudden there was this black smoke and I was like "oh my gosh!" 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:58.700 "How cool is this, this is so exciting!" 00:07:00.100 --> 00:07:07.100 The next day, I think the LA Times reported this and right after that there was a huge increase in the number of viewers. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:15.540 So these types of discoveries really open people's eyes up to what is living in the ocean. 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:18.520 I mean it's easy for us to go outside and look up and see the stars 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:23.400 and envision what's happening in terms of space exploration. 00:07:23.400 --> 00:07:28.860 It's not so easy, especially if you don't live on the coast, to figure out what's going on underwater. 00:07:28.900 --> 00:07:30.380 Why it's important. 00:07:32.080 --> 00:07:39.600 And I think having the telepresence enabled exploration has opened up the oceans 00:07:39.880 --> 00:07:45.780 to hundreds of thousands of people who had not experienced that before. 00:07:50.880 --> 00:07:56.280 Having that public engaged, having them with you being a part of the exploration 00:07:56.300 --> 00:08:01.340 So many people that will never get the opportunity to step on board a ship ever in their life 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:08.600 and yet they're there with you as you're seeing those new animals, those new habitats, those new behaviors. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:15.120 Telepresence and the Okeanos program truly democratizes ocean exploration and science. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.800 And that's something that really shouldn't be undervalued. 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:24.540 Archaeology is a record of the past. 00:08:25.440 --> 00:08:31.520 It's unique in that it is one of those things that tells us what people actually cared about, 00:08:31.520 --> 00:08:35.260 what kind of things were important to them, what they did in their daily lives. 00:08:36.380 --> 00:08:41.160 And working with the Okeanos Explorer we have learned a great deal more 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.880 about what has led up to our present relationship with the ocean. 00:08:48.180 --> 00:08:55.020 I've been there for sights like the Japanese midget submarines lost in the early moments of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:04.700 These ships, still loaded with artifacts, are time capsules that speak to the past. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:11.200 And so I think the power of the Okeanos Explorer, out there working and surveying 00:09:11.460 --> 00:09:16.240 documenting and sharing is absolutely essential. 00:09:16.880 --> 00:09:18.880 This is science for everyone. 00:09:18.880 --> 00:09:23.560 Every time you go, every time you're brought down into the water you're going to find something new. 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:25.060 And that's the exciting part. 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:33.780 We have also taken some of the video files and have been able to develop 3D models 00:09:34.260 --> 00:09:38.800 so that has been a tremendous boon in trying to actually interpret the site. 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:43.380 We publish on a public website, anybody can view it. 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:45.620 And it's been quite popular. 00:09:45.760 --> 00:09:53.280 And that would not have been possible without getting the kind of high resolution and high quality video that we've gotten from the Okeanos Explorer. 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:01.600 If I could wave a magic wand, I'd have a fleet of Okeanos out there. 00:10:02.020 --> 00:10:05.520 I think it's something that captures the public's imagination. 00:10:05.920 --> 00:10:10.860 In an age in which we might that everything has been done, that there are no frontiers left 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:15.520 there still is this vast frontier that needs to be studied. 00:10:15.520 --> 00:10:20.580 That need to be visited, that needs to be shared, and in some cases protected. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:27.440 Exploration is incredibly important because it's the first step 00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:29.580 in understanding our oceans. 00:10:29.760 --> 00:10:34.320 It allows us to answer those basic questions, like what lives there? 00:10:34.540 --> 00:10:36.620 Or, what habitats exist there? 00:10:37.140 --> 00:10:42.220 And without those answers, without that crucial baseline data 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:47.040 we can't really effectively manage our oceans. 00:10:49.180 --> 00:10:56.040 When we are planning our expeditions, we have our communication with managers who are interested in various resources. 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:04.400 And so we need to get some kind of look at what is the area that is either under consideration for protection or is already under protection. 00:11:04.800 --> 00:11:08.460 Did we make the right decisions? Should we expand it? Should we move it? 00:11:10.760 --> 00:11:21.200 Having that kind of information really is critical to us as managers to be able to appropriately protect those sites that we do feel are important. 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:24.740 And not worry about those that we know are not. 00:11:26.620 --> 00:11:30.720 So being able to provide them with the data that they need 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:35.480 is a really important service that the Okeanos Explorer fulfills. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:42.440 I think over the last ten years the Okeanos Explorer has 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:44.440 sort of blazed a trail 00:11:44.640 --> 00:11:47.300 and served as a model for what 00:11:48.380 --> 00:11:52.100 federally funded, community-driven ocean exploration can be. 00:11:55.580 --> 00:12:01.000 And as I think about the next ten years, I think there are so many exciting opportunities 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:06.960 Every day I come into the office and know that the Okeanos Explorer is diving in the ocean somewhere 00:12:07.400 --> 00:12:12.880 is a day when I expect my understanding of how the deep sea works 00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:14.620 may be challenged or changed. 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:20.180 That the community's notions about processes of the deep sea 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:25.200 or relationships may evolve that very day based on what the ship sees. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:31.840 So I think the value of exploration is that it allows us to push forward 00:12:32.280 --> 00:12:36.000 and have those moments where we go, "Wow I really didn't expect that!" 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:41.160 "That's something completely new and that doesn't make sense based on what we thought we knew." 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.600 It's those moments that really push and advance science 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:50.720 and I think that's the true value of the exploration that the Okeanos Explorer does.