WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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We're diving in a very special place, named after a very special scientist, Dr. Brian Kinlan.

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Who this canyon is named after.

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There were two previous dives inside the canyon.

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One in 2013 by the Okeanos Explorer and a second one in 2017 off the Henry Bigelow with the ROV ROPOS.

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And Brian Kinlan was involved in both of those expeditions

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He helped pick out those dive targets through a revolutionary approach at that time.

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Brian Kinlan was a spacial ecologist that used predictive habitat models.

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He was able to predict where corals could likely be found.

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Interestingly enough, today's dive site also was guided by this very same suitability habitat model that Brian helped develop.

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His models were also very important to help decision makers make decisions

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about the boundaries and locations of several marine protected areas.

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Including the  Frank R. Lautenberg deep sea conservation area that we'll be diving later on the expedition.

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As well as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument that we'll also be targeting on this expedition.

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The greatest asset of NOAA are its people. Brian was exemplary in many ways.

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He was a great scientist, a great colleague, a great mentor, and a great friend.

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We'd like to dedicate today's dive to Brian Kinlan, his family, and his friends.