WEBVTT

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Hello, my name is Derek
Sowers, and I work for

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NOAA's Office of Ocean
Exploration and Research.

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I will serve as the expedition
coordinator for the 2014

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Okeanos Explorer East Coast
Mapping Expedition that will

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take place for sixteen days,
beginning on May 7th in Tampa,

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Florida and concluding on May
22 in North Kingston, Rhode

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Island. Exploratory ocean
mapping will occur at all

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times during the expedition as
the Okeanos Explorer voyages

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around the Florida Keys and
heads northward along the U.S.

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East Coast. During planning
for this cruise, extensive

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input was provided by ocean
scientists and managers in the

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Southeastern United States to
identify top priority areas

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for deep water ocean
exploration. Based on this

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input, a large region offshore
of northeastern Florida and

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southern Georgia, generally
referred to as Stetson Mesa,

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was selected as the primary
focus area for mapping

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operations during this
expedition. This region mostly

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lacks high resolution maps of
the seafloor and is entirely

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within an area designated by
NOAA as a Habitat Area of

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Particular Concern due to the
presence of deep-sea corals

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and other important fisheries
habitat. Deep-sea coral

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habitats are an important
component of the deep-sea

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ecosystem and can be highly
susceptible to disturbance by

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human activities. Detailed
mapping of the habitats within

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this Marine Protected Area
will be used to directly

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inform management decisions
about the region. Another

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exciting aspect of this
exploration cruise will be

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working with scientists from
NOAA's Northeast Fisheries

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Science Center to investigate
the possibility of a

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previously unknown spawning
area for bluefin tuna on the

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Blake Plateau. This plateau is
a prominent extension of the

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continental shelf off the
southeast United States. We

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will be towing a very fine
mesh plankton net at select

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sampling locations over the
plateau to try to hopefully

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find bluefin tuna eggs and
larvae, which would indicate

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spawning activity in the
region. If bluefin tuna larvae

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are found in this area, this
would be a major discovery in

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terms of the life history of
an extraordinary large marine

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predator. Bluefin are one of
the fastest swimming, largest,

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and furthest migrating fish
species on the planet! This

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species is also a prized
recreational and commercial

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fishery of international
importance, and is at

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critically low population
levels-so new information

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that will help conserve this
species is greatly needed.

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Moving further northward on
our journey, the Okeanos

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Explorer will map select areas
in the vicinity of the Monitor

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National Marine Sanctuary
offshore of Cape Hatteras,

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North Carolina in order to
help archaeologists search for

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additional Underwater Cultural
Heritage sites, such as

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shipwrecks. The final stage of
our expedition northward will

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involve mapping along the edge
of the continental shelf of

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the U.S. eastern seaboard.
This edge is where the

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relatively shallow coastal
shelf seafloor dramatically

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slopes down to the deep sea,
forming complex and rugged

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ocean canyons. The majority of
these canyons were mapped

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during 2012 and 2013 Okeanos
Explorer cruises as part of a

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major exploration initiative
referred to as the Atlantic

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Canyons Undersea Mapping
Expeditions or ACUMEN. As we

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take the ship north to its
home port in Rhode Island we

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will traverse the heads of
these canyons and map along

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the edge of the continental
shelf to add to existing high

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resolution multibeam sonar
mapping coverage of this

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fascinating area. During
previous expeditions to this

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Atlantic Canyons region, the
ship discovered many locations

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where methane gas seeps emit
plumes of bubbles from the

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seafloor. Using the advanced
multibeam sonar on the Okeanos

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Explorer, these bubble plumes
can be detected in the water

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column. These seeps can
support unique biological

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communities of organisms that
scientists are just beginning

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to understand, so we will be
using this approach to hunt

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for new seep locations. During
the cruise, you can receive

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updates about the progress of
our exploration work, and view

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live video streams showing the
multibeam sonar mapping work

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in action, by checking our
website.

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oceanexplorer.noaa.gov We hope
that you will join us on this

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journey of discovery from May
7th to the 22nd, and we thank

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you for your interest in ocean
exploration!