WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:11.540 Far beneath the surface of the ocean, as sunlight fades to darkness, exists an almost hidden 00:00:11.540 --> 00:00:15.530 world home to an incredible diversity of life. 00:00:15.530 --> 00:00:21.430 Despite the vastness of the ocean and the abundance of marine life that thrives there, 00:00:21.430 --> 00:00:24.590 this environment is still virtually unknown. 00:00:24.590 --> 00:00:30.090 With still so much to explore, discover, and learn about the depths of our ocean planet, 00:00:30.090 --> 00:00:36.050 deepwater ecosystems provide an amazing platform for scientific research. 00:00:36.050 --> 00:00:42.180 So understanding the deep ocean is of fundamental importance to understanding the planet as 00:00:42.180 --> 00:00:43.180 a whole. 00:00:43.180 --> 00:00:48.089 So you think about the size of the ocean, and especially the deep ocean, makes up more 00:00:48.089 --> 00:00:54.570 than 90% of the volume, or the space we can inhabit, or that any living organism can inhabit. 00:00:54.570 --> 00:01:01.000 A team of dedicated scientists and engineers from Lehigh University and Woods Hole Oceanographic 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:06.700 Institution are developing revolutionary new ways to study deepwater ecosystems. 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:13.760 The cutting edge methodologies have the power to enhance the scope and efficiency of ocean 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:19.469 exploration, as well as provide a more complete picture of marine biodiversity, which can 00:01:19.469 --> 00:01:25.270 inform the management and conservation of deepwater resources around the globe. 00:01:25.270 --> 00:01:31.229 In the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 100 nautical miles off the coast of Texas, is Flower Garden 00:01:31.229 --> 00:01:33.990 Banks National Marine Sanctuary. 00:01:33.990 --> 00:01:39.340 Marked by spectacular shallow-water coral reefs home to a bustling community of marine 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:44.009 species, from intricate vertebrates to dazzling megafauna. 00:01:44.009 --> 00:01:51.139 Farther down, as darkness begins to take over, flourishing marine communities in form of 00:01:51.139 --> 00:01:55.810 deepwater coral ecosystem continue to persist. 00:01:55.810 --> 00:02:01.560 Aboard NOAA Research Vessel, the R/V Manta, these researchers are on a mission to use 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:07.950 innovative methodologies to explore the biodiversity of deepwater ecosystems near Flower Garden 00:02:07.950 --> 00:02:12.740 Banks National Marine Sanctuary as well as the deeper continental slope. 00:02:12.740 --> 00:02:18.360 Better understanding these less explored and less understood deepwater ecosystems is crucial 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:23.970 as they, like their shallow water relatives, play a vital role in an overall healthy ocean 00:02:23.970 --> 00:02:25.230 system. 00:02:25.230 --> 00:02:30.470 So how are these scientists exploring the biodiversity of deepwater ecosystems? 00:02:30.470 --> 00:02:38.660 With eDNA. eDNA or environmental DNA is composed of small traces of genetic material that organisms 00:02:38.660 --> 00:02:40.980 leave behind in the water column. 00:02:40.980 --> 00:02:47.380 From jellyfish to corals to fish and even whales, marine animals are constantly leaving 00:02:47.380 --> 00:02:51.570 invisible signs of their presence in the environment. 00:02:51.570 --> 00:02:57.270 eDNAis short for environmental DNA and the idea behind it is somewhat similar to forensic 00:02:57.270 --> 00:02:58.270 science. 00:02:58.270 --> 00:03:05.030 It's this idea that all Eukaryote organisms, including people, shed their DNA into the 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:06.030 environment. 00:03:06.030 --> 00:03:14.410 One of the great advantages of using environmental DNA is that we can capture in true seawater 00:03:14.410 --> 00:03:18.700 the diversity of organisms that live in an area. 00:03:18.700 --> 00:03:24.420 We have estimates from different studies that tell us that maybe more than 90% of the biodiversity 00:03:24.420 --> 00:03:27.370 that exists in the ocean remains to be discovered. 00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:33.950 So eDNA could act as a tool to give us hints of what that missing biodiversity we haven't 00:03:33.950 --> 00:03:36.240 discovered is. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:43.110 To collect eDNA, water samples from various depths in the ocean must first be obtained. 00:03:43.110 --> 00:03:45.110 Enter Mesobot. 00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:50.710 This state-of-the art autonomous deepwater robot from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 00:03:50.710 --> 00:03:56.620 is designed to study deepwater organisms without disturbing their environment and behavior. 00:03:56.620 --> 00:04:02.440 While Mesobot's primary focus is to track elusive twilight zone organisms using cameras 00:04:02.440 --> 00:04:07.760 and dimmable lights in a non-invasive way, in this research collaboration, as part of 00:04:07.760 --> 00:04:14.060 the Ocean Twilight Zone Project, Dr. Annette Govindajaran is using pumped, filter seawater 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:20.850 samplers on Mesobot in order to filter eDNA from the water while at depth in the Gulf 00:04:20.850 --> 00:04:22.160 of Mexico. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:27.889 The Mesobot is a new kind of robot that's designed to actually emulate a skilled scientific 00:04:27.889 --> 00:04:32.569 diver with, of course, a whole of additions. 00:04:32.569 --> 00:04:36.979 Okay, so it can hover, it can see the ocean without disturbing it, it can see the animals 00:04:36.979 --> 00:04:42.300 without disturbing them, and it can actually follow animals using stereo cameras, but it 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:44.110 has a lot of other functions too. 00:04:44.110 --> 00:04:49.900 On this particular expedition, we are using it to sample environmental DNA. 00:04:49.900 --> 00:04:56.629 We're not sampling animals, we're not sampling pieces of animals, we're sampling traces of 00:04:56.629 --> 00:05:00.550 the DNA that the animals leave in the water. 00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:04.729 Water samples were also collected at depth using a CTD rosette. 00:05:04.729 --> 00:05:10.139 A staple in the world of oceanography, this instrument array houses sensors to measure 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:15.650 salinity, temperature, and depth, as well as a series of bottles that can be individually 00:05:15.650 --> 00:05:20.870 triggered to close and collect seawater at specific depths. 00:05:20.870 --> 00:05:24.409 While at sea, filtered eDNA was preserved by freezing. 00:05:24.409 --> 00:05:31.509 Back in the lab, the groups of Dr. Santiago Herrera, Dr. Jill McDermott, and Dr. Annette 00:05:31.509 --> 00:05:37.949 Govindajaran are working to purify the eDNA and use modern gene sequencing technologies 00:05:37.949 --> 00:05:43.189 to identify coral, fish, and invertebrate species that call this region of the deep 00:05:43.189 --> 00:05:44.830 Gulf of Mexico home. 00:05:44.830 --> 00:05:51.620 So in order to get the DNA out of the eDNA samples, what we do is we collect fresh seawater 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:55.570 using either the Mesobot or with the CTD rosette. 00:05:55.570 --> 00:06:01.779 That water gets pumped through sterilized tubing into a sterile, very fine mesh filter 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:06.879 that traps cells and extracellular DNA within the mesh of those fibers. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:12.389 That material gets frozen on dry ice here on board, gets shipped cold back to our university 00:06:12.389 --> 00:06:18.490 where it's then extracted, undergoes a polymerization reaction, and then we can then bar-code those 00:06:18.490 --> 00:06:22.759 samples in order to match them up with coral or fish organisms. 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:27.889 Herrera and McDermott are also pursuing new lines of research in exploring how varying 00:06:27.889 --> 00:06:34.020 ocean conditions like temperature, chemistry, and pH, along with the speed and direction 00:06:34.020 --> 00:06:40.620 of localized currents, affects the stability and persistence of eDNA in the deep ocean. 00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:45.969 Another important thing that we're trying to do with the samples we collect this expedition 00:06:45.969 --> 00:06:50.110 is to understand how the DNA preserves in seawater. 00:06:50.110 --> 00:06:58.580 How long can we detect the DNA after it has been shed from an animal in the seawater? 00:06:58.580 --> 00:07:04.110 Generating a model to estimate for how far and for how long eDNA remains in the water 00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:09.599 column will provide an important framework for marine scientists around the world to 00:07:09.599 --> 00:07:15.539 use eDNA as an accurate means for studying biodiversity of deepwater ecosystems. 00:07:15.539 --> 00:07:23.219 Overall, eDNA allows for a more cost-effective and less intrusive way to study the deep ocean. 00:07:23.219 --> 00:07:28.860 By simply collecting samples of seawater, scientists are able to gather important genetic 00:07:28.860 --> 00:07:33.379 information about the species that call the depths of our planet home. 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:37.770 eDNA research can be carried out for a fraction of the price compared to more traditional 00:07:37.770 --> 00:07:43.229 methods and rather than having to continue to collect physical tissue samples or whole 00:07:43.229 --> 00:07:49.159 specimens to obtain genetic information, these deepwater ecosystems can now be learned about 00:07:49.159 --> 00:07:50.780 without disturbance. 00:07:50.780 --> 00:07:57.159 eDNA also allows for a more broad analysis of deepwater ecosystems since identification 00:07:57.159 --> 00:08:01.919 of a wide variety of species can be detected from a single water sample. 00:08:01.919 --> 00:08:07.910 Taking an eDNA sample really only requires water and sterilized equipment. 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:14.000 And so it has a real value of not harming an organism, not requiring a physical collection 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:20.620 of a specimen, and so in that sense it's completely non-invasive and it doesn't impact the environment 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:22.400 that we're interested in. 00:08:22.400 --> 00:08:29.909 With eDNA we can just pump water and establish baselines for wider coverage in biodiversity 00:08:29.909 --> 00:08:31.719 throughout the world's oceans. 00:08:31.719 --> 00:08:36.250 The results from this eDNA research will be directly applicable to the management and 00:08:36.250 --> 00:08:42.690 conservation of areas currently being considered for protection as part of the proposed expansion 00:08:42.690 --> 00:08:47.880 of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which has the potential to encompass a much 00:08:47.880 --> 00:08:51.440 larger and deeper area of the Gulf of Mexico. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:57.759 So there's been a lot of interest in potentially the national marine sanctuary here in the 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:58.920 Gulf of Mexico. 00:08:58.920 --> 00:09:05.709 We believe that this eDNA research can be important groundwork for underpinning that 00:09:05.709 --> 00:09:10.500 expansion and identifying which of the banks contain hotbeds of biodiversity. 00:09:10.500 --> 00:09:16.690 With that knowledge in hand, we can then make informed decisions about which of these banks 00:09:16.690 --> 00:09:20.660 is most important to protect as we expand the sanctuary. 00:09:20.660 --> 00:09:25.730 The deep ocean is an integral part of our planet, the planet that sustains us all. 00:09:25.730 --> 00:09:32.009 This vast, relatively unexplored environment plays a key role in regulating ocean chemistry 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:37.110 and biology, which in turn strongly affects global climate. 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:43.290 With threats from over-fishing, climate change, and oil spills looming, better understanding 00:09:43.290 --> 00:09:47.149 the deep ocean is ideal for everyone on Earth. 00:09:47.149 --> 00:09:53.350 With the use of eDNA as a more effective and less disruptive methodology, science is unlocking 00:09:53.350 --> 00:09:59.350 the secrets of the deep ocean and the incredible variety of animals that live there one drop 00:09:59.350 --> 00:10:01.370 of seawater at a time.