WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.563 --> 00:00:12.603 The Marine Monument is this beautiful, wondrous, mysterious 2 00:00:12.603 --> 00:00:17.103 place, right off our coast at the exact point where two 3 00:00:17.103 --> 00:00:20.283 currents merge. The Gulf Stream actually comes up as a surface 4 00:00:20.283 --> 00:00:23.343 current and it's a lot of warm water and bringing nutrients 5 00:00:23.343 --> 00:00:26.943 but the cold climate actually keeps those surface currents 6 00:00:26.943 --> 00:00:31.803 from transporting too far. It's mixing almost creating like a 7 00:00:31.803 --> 00:00:34.923 turbine with these seamounts. And that's when that Dulf 8 00:00:34.923 --> 00:00:38.223 Stream actually forms eddies and then proceeds then eastward 9 00:00:38.223 --> 00:00:41.103 into the Atlantic Ocean. There are canyons that are deeper 10 00:00:41.103 --> 00:00:44.703 than the Grand Canyon. And the extinct underwater volcanoes, 11 00:00:44.703 --> 00:00:47.643 the seamounts are higher than any east of the Rocky 12 00:00:47.643 --> 00:00:51.243 Mountains. Because of those combinations, it's just this 13 00:00:51.243 --> 00:00:56.283 magnificently rich environment that so many species rely on. 14 00:00:56.283 --> 00:00:59.103 There's this incredible landscape that just plays out 15 00:00:59.103 --> 00:01:02.343 underneath the sea and it's filled with water and that 16 00:01:02.343 --> 00:01:07.323 water is filled with life. The marine mammal species that pass 17 00:01:07.323 --> 00:01:09.783 through this marine monument, whether it's the right whale, 18 00:01:09.783 --> 00:01:14.723 the blue whale, the variety of dolphin species, skates and 19 00:01:14.723 --> 00:01:20.663 rays, sea turtles, but also the corals. They can be hundreds to 20 00:01:20.663 --> 00:01:25.463 over a millennia in age. They can be as tall as trees. And so 21 00:01:25.463 --> 00:01:29.843 when they go down to do dives on the monument and shed light 22 00:01:29.843 --> 00:01:34.163 on these amazing places, you really get to see the beauty. 23 00:01:34.163 --> 00:01:37.823 We can take actual trips to the deepest parts of the ocean and 24 00:01:37.823 --> 00:01:40.463 we can do this remotely with remotely operated vehicles. I 25 00:01:40.463 --> 00:01:44.803 can sit in my office and look at my computer screen and see 26 00:01:44.803 --> 00:01:48.703 the video live from an underwater vehicle, talk to the 27 00:01:48.703 --> 00:01:51.103 scientist on the ship and to other scientists around the 28 00:01:51.103 --> 00:01:53.863 world. There have been numerous times where all of these 29 00:01:53.863 --> 00:01:57.163 scientists have just not been able to describe what species 30 00:01:57.163 --> 00:02:00.643 this is and this is potentially then a new discovery of certain 31 00:02:00.643 --> 00:02:04.243 species whether it be coral or sponges or new fish that we 32 00:02:04.243 --> 00:02:07.903 didn't know previously existed in this area. You know, I often 33 00:02:07.903 --> 00:02:11.443 describe every dive with an ROV into the deep ocean. There's 34 00:02:11.443 --> 00:02:14.723 always some gift from nature. Uh there's something new that 35 00:02:14.723 --> 00:02:17.603 we learn or something incredible that we see and it's 36 00:02:17.603 --> 00:02:20.543 not always what we expect. There are mammoth skulls 37 00:02:20.543 --> 00:02:24.023 sitting at the canyon heads because guess what? Wooly 38 00:02:24.023 --> 00:02:27.983 mammoths were roaming in the canyons. Probably only 50% of 39 00:02:27.983 --> 00:02:30.563 the species in the marine monument itself have been 40 00:02:30.563 --> 00:02:34.163 identified. We still have a lot left to be discovered. The idea 41 00:02:34.163 --> 00:02:37.763 that there's nothing left to explore is is fantasy. How 42 00:02:37.763 --> 00:02:40.943 animals behave, how they interact, how they hunt for 43 00:02:40.943 --> 00:02:45.043 prey, how they avoid becoming food for others, how they 44 00:02:45.043 --> 00:02:48.103 reproduce or all these fundamental questions that we 45 00:02:48.103 --> 00:02:53.083 want answers to in part from a intellectual curiosity 46 00:02:53.083 --> 00:02:56.203 perspective but more important from being able to understand 47 00:02:56.203 --> 00:02:59.803 how life is distributed, what it takes to survive in order to 48 00:02:59.803 --> 00:03:03.823 conserve them for the future, given human impacts to the 49 00:03:03.823 --> 00:03:06.123 planet. 50 00:03:08.063 --> 00:03:12.403 By preserving it and putting these places aside for 51 00:03:12.403 --> 00:03:15.823 conservation and preservation and just maintaining the 52 00:03:15.823 --> 00:03:19.723 integrity of these spaces, it's gonna help to sustain the life 53 00:03:19.723 --> 00:03:23.083 of those species around it, those species that pass through 54 00:03:23.083 --> 00:03:29.563 it, and then the people and the cities and the areas that all 55 00:03:29.563 --> 00:03:34.483 rely on that, that connection to this magnificent place. This 56 00:03:34.483 --> 00:03:37.543 isn't an a place just for me and my colleagues. This is a 57 00:03:37.543 --> 00:03:42.043 national resource for people to be able to study life in the 58 00:03:42.043 --> 00:03:48.663 oceans. Even seagulls. We hope that this information can 59 00:03:48.663 --> 00:03:51.543 contribute for years to come for future scientists as well 60 00:03:51.543 --> 00:03:53.763 as inspire other young generations to continue 61 00:03:53.763 --> 00:03:58.023 research and exploration in their own ways. All that is 62 00:03:58.023 --> 00:04:02.583 leading to preserved lands, wildlife species, and 63 00:04:02.583 --> 00:04:05.763 everything else. For future generations, that are gonna 64 00:04:05.763 --> 00:04:09.183 look at these areas that are set aside and conserved and 65 00:04:09.183 --> 00:04:13.263 protected and saying, thank goodness, this is here. If it 66 00:04:13.263 --> 00:04:17.503 wasn't for them, putting it aside, I wouldn't get to have 67 00:04:17.503 --> 00:04:21.343 this experience. Growing up as a first generation American, my 68 00:04:21.343 --> 00:04:24.403 parents really fought for my siblings and I to have that 69 00:04:24.403 --> 00:04:27.403 pursuit of passion where we're able to study what we truly 70 00:04:27.403 --> 00:04:31.543 love and we're here to inspire the next generation. Hopefully, 71 00:04:31.543 --> 00:04:35.983 twenty, 30 years from now and long into the future, these 72 00:04:35.983 --> 00:04:41.023 canyons remain protected. The communities of animals are 73 00:04:41.023 --> 00:04:45.823 abundant and diverse and resilient and that knowing that 74 00:04:45.823 --> 00:04:50.783 this place exists makes people feel better as as Americans and 75 00:04:50.783 --> 00:04:55.643 as global citizens. It helps people connect to the mysteries 76 00:04:55.643 --> 00:04:59.783 of our world and feeling like we're part of something. The 77 00:04:59.783 --> 00:05:03.683 mysteries are endless. We just have to take some time and 78 00:05:03.683 --> 00:05:07.603 discover 'em.