WEBVTT 00:04.228 --> 00:08.328 Alaska is one of my favorite places on Earth. The vastness 00:08.328 --> 00:12.328 of it, the beauty of it, the natural wonders is something to 00:12.328 --> 00:14.888 behold. 00:16.728 --> 00:21.228 The people in the region use the term "Imam Suga" and that 00:21.228 --> 00:25.788 roughly translates to "people of the sea." 00:26.728 --> 00:31.748 The people in Alaska are all heavily connected to the ocean. 00:31.748 --> 00:35.588 It's not just their subsistence resources, it's their economic 00:35.588 --> 00:39.468 resources, you know, it's their transportation. It 00:39.468 --> 00:43.708 literally is everything to them. 00:45.228 --> 00:48.848 Being able to lean on the expertise of the people that 00:48.848 --> 00:52.528 live in this region and work in this region is what makes 00:52.528 --> 00:57.888 everything that we do possible. NOAA Ocean Exploration is a 00:57.888 --> 01:01.488 federal organization that is tasked with exploring the deep 01:01.488 --> 01:05.568 sea. Before these Seascape Alaska expeditions, we knew 01:05.568 --> 01:10.688 very little about the deep waters in Alaska. It's one of 01:10.688 --> 01:13.648 the least explored states in the country and it has the 01:13.648 --> 01:18.928 largest contribution to the exclusive economic zone. 01:21.228 --> 01:24.688 There's a lot of interest from the community and from 01:24.688 --> 01:27.408 scientists around the world in knowing what kind of habitats 01:27.408 --> 01:29.568 and what kind of potential geohazards might be in the 01:29.568 --> 01:34.208 region. Alaska is very difficult to map. It's 01:34.208 --> 01:40.028 difficult to access and things are changing rapidly. Seascape 01:40.028 --> 01:43.308 Alaska is a regional mapping campaign and it's born out of 01:43.308 --> 01:46.108 the National Ocean Mapping Exploration and 01:46.108 --> 01:50.588 Characterization Strategy for the US EEZ. It's designed to be 01:50.588 --> 01:56.548 a campaign for mapping all of US waters by 2040. This 01:56.548 --> 02:01.348 kind of information is used for safe navigation, aquaculture 02:01.348 --> 02:05.188 siting, and even hazard mitigation and adaptation so 02:05.188 --> 02:09.268 sea level rise, tsunamis, earthquake hazards, all of 02:09.268 --> 02:13.348 those things. On these NOAA Ocean Exploration expeditions, 02:13.348 --> 02:16.148 they did basic mapping but then they also went to specific 02:16.148 --> 02:18.868 priority areas that were identified by their 02:18.868 --> 02:24.108 stakeholders to, you know, take a closer look. In one of the 02:24.108 --> 02:27.228 mapping expeditions, we discovered a new seep out in 02:27.228 --> 02:30.228 the Aleutians and it was just providing this incredible 02:30.228 --> 02:34.268 imagery that we were seeing in the sonars. From that, we were 02:34.268 --> 02:38.108 able on the next expedition go down and dive, look at the seep 02:38.108 --> 02:42.028 and characterize it further. Scientists around the world 02:42.028 --> 02:45.948 were kind of shocked by the diversity of this seep. "Those 02:45.948 --> 02:49.148 are some healthy looking tube worms. Look at those! This 02:49.148 --> 02:54.268 really is a needle in a haystack situation, very often." 02:54.268 --> 02:58.488 Findings like that really show our expedition model at work 02:58.488 --> 03:02.008 and what our capabilities are. 03:02.508 --> 03:06.648 Additionally, we found a number of potentially new species, 03:06.648 --> 03:11.528 maybe even a new genus, which is really exciting. 03:16.228 --> 03:19.208 The more that we know, the more that we understand, the more 03:19.208 --> 03:21.528 that we can protect and conserve, that just has 03:21.528 --> 03:25.528 far-reaching benefits that we'll be seeing for years. The 03:25.528 --> 03:28.968 deep-sea and coastal ecosystems are one ocean and what happens 03:28.968 --> 03:31.528 in the deep sea directly relates to what happens in the 03:31.528 --> 03:35.208 coastal ecosystem. To understand the ocean as a whole 03:35.208 --> 03:38.728 picture is such a valuable piece that we're missing in a 03:38.728 --> 03:44.788 lot of communities. Community engagement is just super 03:44.788 --> 03:50.668 important to everything that we do. We have been working with 03:50.668 --> 03:54.468 partners in Seward to set up a Seward science symposium. 03:54.468 --> 03:57.548 Scientists in the region can collaborate together and start 03:57.548 --> 03:59.868 conversations that hopefully will have far-reaching benefits 03:59.868 --> 04:03.228 moving forward. 04:03.728 --> 04:08.628 We also have a community art project creating a mural in 04:08.628 --> 04:12.308 Seward where local artists have taken some of the imagery that 04:12.308 --> 04:14.708 we've collected and found inspiration from that and 04:14.708 --> 04:18.868 allowed members of the public to come and design their own 04:18.868 --> 04:22.148 tiles and have a little part to play in the telling of this 04:22.148 --> 04:27.828 story. I'm so glad that the NOAA Ocean Exploration team 04:27.828 --> 04:30.468 reached out to us and they were willing to share their science 04:30.468 --> 04:35.828 with our community and our community gets to share back. 04:36.228 --> 04:40.328 Definitely encourage if you're out there to interact with the 04:40.328 --> 04:43.128 citizens in the community, especially the tribal residents 04:43.128 --> 04:46.408 who have been there since forever. In many cases, those 04:46.408 --> 04:50.328 people have been watching the ocean for much longer than any 04:50.328 --> 04:53.408 of us have and that knowledge has been passed down through 04:53.408 --> 04:56.968 generations far before scientists were here doing 04:56.968 --> 05:01.048 research. So, incorporating that into research and 05:01.048 --> 05:05.448 discovery is crucially important.