Sue Zupko – Page 2 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

June 16, 2011April 28, 2021

Sue Zupko: 14 Cnidarians–Get the Vinegar!

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to Biscayne Bay, FL
Date: June 10, 2011
Time: 09:30 EDT

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 26.0°N 79.5°W
Present weather: 5/8 Alto Cumulus
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 066°true
Wind Speed: 16 kts
Surface Wave Height: 4 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 120° true
Swell Wave Height: 4 ft
Surface Water Temperature:28.5 °C
Barometric Pressure: 1011.8 mb
Water Depth: 307 m
Salinity: 36.187 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 28°/24.8°

This blog runs in chronological order. If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

Take the quiz before reading this post.

Purple pink sea fan on a cobble bottom — This octocoral is a sea fan

Are all cnidarians corals or are all corals cnidarians? Definitely, all corals are cnidarians (pronounced nye-dare-ee-ans). Hydroids, corals, jellyfish and sea anemones are all cnidarians, so all cnidarians are not corals. Part of our mission is to study deep-water corals in the Gulf Stream. My berth (room) mate, Jana Thoma, is working on her doctoral dissertation (thesis) on corals. She gave me an elaborate chart explaining all the branches of cnidarians the first day because I couldn’t remember the difference between hexacorals and octocorals. So, do you know what these are? If not, you are in good company. Octocorals are like octopi (octopuses?) (octopodes?) . As I’m writing this the scientists in the room are discussing the proper plural form of the word. Checking the internet we have found the answer is…all are correct. Back to the coral/octopus example. An octopus has eight tentacles (or arms). An octocoral has eight tentacles. Cousins? I think not, but the prefix octo- in Greek means eight and they both have eight tentacles. The octocorals are usually soft. Sea fans, sea pens, and soft corals are all examples of octocorals. Originally people thought these were plants because they look and act like plants waving in the current. Jana is helping me write this, and it’s obvious I’m still having trouble. So, here is a quote from Jana to help us all better understand corals.

a forest of white-colored black sea coral whips — *Stichopathes* sp

“Uh…great, this is for posterity. Okay.” So, when most people hear the term coral they think of hard corals like brain coral, staghorn, or elkhorn coral that are known to build shallow-water reefs. However, I study those corals that bend and flex in the water current – like sea fans or gorgonians. As with all rules, there are exceptions and confusion ensues (follows). Hexacorals are those animals that have six, or multiples of six tentacles; examples include hard corals, black corals, and anemones (that sometimes house clown fish). Octocorals have……that’s right, eight tentacles; examples include gorgonians (sea fans), soft corals, sea pens, and the strange blue coral. Last major group of “corals” are…stay with me folks… lace corals, which are actually hydrozoans and more closely related to the Portuguese Man o’War (the colonial jelly-fish like animal that partially floats on the surface and has long tentacles dangling in the water).” (Jana Thoma, doctoral candidate, University of Louisiana Lafayette )

white hard puffy ball of coral — *Oculina varicosa*

So, if I’m understanding this correctly, the hard corals, such as the Oculina varicosa, more often than not are the primary reef building animals. They can provide an exposed hard surface for the sea fans to attach to. This hard surface can also be covered with sediment that can be home to other sessile (sedentary like a couch potato that can’t ever get up) cnidarians. Jana is nodding to this last statement. Yeah! Further, the living portions of corals are made of polyps, the hard skeletons are calcium carbonate and are formed by the polyps. One sea fan is not a single polyp, but perhaps thousands. All stacked up like an elaborate apartment building, they create a beautiful sea fan (or things which look like a sea fan).

What do scientists do when they have a few minutes not looking through a microscope or classifying new species? At my request, they create songs about what they study. Here is one, written today by Stephanie Rogers, Chuck Messing, and Jana Thoma:

Marine Snow (set to the tune of “Let it Snow”)

Oh, the sea is quite inspectable

Where the light is not detectable

And since we’ve got funds to go

Marine snow, marine snow, marine snow

Oh, the ocean’s gently rolling

And the crew is out aft trolling

The fish are goin’ to an’ fro,

Marine snow, marine snow, marine snow.

When we finally get to depths,

Oh, the critters swimming around

And I start to hold my breath

When we collect from the mound.

The R-O-V is slowly flying

And the scientists are sighing

Since we can’t collect no mo’

Marine snow, marine snow, marine snow.

Grey anemone waving tentacles in water catching food — Anemone

Just a reminder, marine snow is the detritus and plankton floating along in the current. Most cnidarians are filter feeders, meaning they grab particles passing by.

We have visited several deep-water coral sites to check on their health and condition. I know we visited places where we expected to find colonies of Oculina and Lophelia. The first few we visited were in and near a new Marine Protected Area (MPA), others have been in or near a Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) established in the 1990s and in a giant HAPC established last year. The soft bottom areas reminded me of the surface of the moon. However when we reached the coral mounds the abundance and variety of life was amazing. You can see where we went on the NOAA Shiptracker.

Colorful reef shot with pink, purple, white corals — Protected reef

The difference between the protected and non-protected areas was striking. In the areas protected for over 20 years I almost felt like I was watching a National Geographic documentary, with lots of beautiful fish, interesting coral, and unusual creatures like the sea cucumber. While there was still life in the non-protected areas, the corals were in much worse condition and there were fewer fish. Corals are the architects and builders of elaborate reef habitats that provide habitat and shelter for a huge diversity of life. Coral reefs are complex ecosystems. Many reef species are important fishery resources, or the food for important commercial species; some are sources of compounds with medical uses, others help us understand basic biological, ecological and physiological processes. Reefs offer protection to coastlines from erosion by waves and currents. Coral reefs are very important. I think I prefer the ones which look alive and healthy because of protections. We will all benefit as a result even if we do not see the evidence on a daily basis.

Feathery creature like a duster — Hydroid

What did C3PO say to R2D2?

Hi, Droid!

Jana’s purpose for being on this cruise was to collect samples of the coral gathered from the bottom. These samples would undergo testing and DNA analysis later in the lab. It’s a challenging process. Salt water was refrigerated in clear plastic containers to help keep the samples cold and avoid necrosis (death) of the polyps. Identification tags were prepared. The numbers help them catalog the specimens they collect. John Reed uses the following system: 10-VI-11-201 means the specimen was gathered on the 10th day of June 2011 and 201 is a the category of specimen–in this case a dugong rib. Every scientist has their own way of cataloging their specimens and this is just one example.

Cnidarians have nematocysts with either sticky, spiraling, hooking, or some other form of “harpoons” which sting and/or capture their prey. If you happen to get in contact with these nematocysts, you might suffer an adverse reaction (like it might hurt or itch). So, grab the vinegar and pour it on. Jana tells me urine is a traditional home remedy that she says she has heard of (she won’t tell me if she has experimented with this or not). The chemicals in these liquids often help ease the sting from contact with nematocysts.

Blue-gloved hands taking black coral sample from the manipulator arm of the ROV — Retrieving a sample from the ROV arm

When the ROV brought up a coral sample in its manipulator arm, the biologists were prepared. Wearing latex or nitrile gloves, like what doctors and nurses snap on with a flourish in the movies, they are ready to catch the coral before it hits the deck and gets contaminated. Cameras at the ready, the specimen is put on a black background with the prepared tag and a ruler to show its size and a photograph is taken. Parts of the specimen are put in different containers. Animals are preserved in different chemicals which have different purposes. Formalin fixes tissues, but can degrade deposits of calcium, and can be used for future morphological (the study of shape or form of an organism). Ethanol can be used to slow down the process of decay. Acetone does an even better job, however, its use is limited because it is more difficult to obtain and isn’t what people normally use. Additionally, you can freeze the specimen, which slows down decay. This is when they use the cold sea water, put the specimen in that, and place it in a very cold (-80°C) freezer. Sometimes it is kept dry and frozen. On the Pisces I saw them use all of these methods to preserve the specimens. The specimens which must be kept frozen will be packaged in dry ice for the journey back to the lab. Andy David, our lead scientist, has developed a strategy for getting people to the airport to catch planes or rent a car for their journey home. After dropping other scientists off to get their cars, he will stop at the grocery store and pick up some dry ice. We literally had a meeting to discuss needs and time schedules to be as efficient as possible.

Coral oozing — *Oculina varicosa* with mucus

I also learned that when they are stressed, corals ooze mucus. Every creature gets stressed. When I’m stressed I eat. Others can’t eat when they are upset. I witnessed the oozing coral when it was brought into the lab.

I felt the scientists were often speaking a foreign language. Guess what–they were. Latin. I learned that in scientific classification different endings mean different things. Phylums end in -a such as Porifera (sponges), Mollusca (sea shells) or Cnidaria (coral, anemones, jellies). Classes end in -da, -iae, -ta, -ea, or -oa. When writing the genus and species of an animal, you capitalize the genus, but not the species name, and italicize both.

Last, what do you do when you discover a new species? You get to name it. We found a couple I want to share.

Stuffed toy grey pelican lying on black backgroun with id numbers and ruler below — *Bigbeakus zupkoii*

Yellow toy stuffed duck with a black shirt on, lying on black background with identification numbers and a ruler below it. — Yellowduckus thomaii

June 13, 2011April 28, 2021

Sue Zupko: 13 Who Ya Gonna Call? Mud Busters!

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 25.4°N 79.5°W
Present weather: overcast
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 075°true
Wind Speed: 20 kts
Surface Wave Height: 4 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 100° true
Swell Wave Height: 4 ft
Surface Water Temperature:28.5 °C
Barometric Pressure: 1011.8 mb
Water Depth: 308 m
Salinity: 36.5 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 28°/24.8°

This blog runs in chronological order. If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

Take this quiz before reading this post.

James and Jeff wait for the winch to lift the pyramind-shaped grey grab — Waiting to lift the grab

When I started my journey as a Teacher at Sea, I wondered what scientific research the ship I would be placed on would be doing. Would it be marine mammals in Alaska or Hawaii, hydrography (bottom mapping), a fishery study, buoy placement, or something I’d never heard of. When I was told I was placed on the Pisces and we’d be using an ROV (remotely operated vehicle), I only knew we’d be using the vehicle to go to the bottom and look at corals since it is too deep to scuba dive. I had no real concept of what else would be going on. I did know my students liked the idea of the ROV since I am the Robotics Club advisor at Weatherly Heights Elementary.

Pyramid shaped grey grabber hanging over the ocean — Benthic Van Veer Grab

We have three missions on the Pisces. One is to look at the bottom through the eyes of the camera lens to see what is actually happening with the coral and its habitat. Another purpose was to update existing maps. The third mission was the most difficult for me to get a grasp of just because it sounds so strange. Benthic grabbing. Benthos means bottom in Greek. Like the soil on land, sediment lying on the bottom of the sea is full of creatures and information needed to fully understand the health of the corals and their habitat. You don’t see the most of the animals living in soil usually either. In soil on land and in the sea sediment, the animals living inside are called infauna, and provide food and nutrients to the epifauna (those living above the surface). What effect has man had on this foundation of the coral reef? What diversity of life is there and how plentiful are they? What size are the lithogenic (of rock origin) particles? It all means something and needs to be studied.

Sand on bottom of ocean — Sandy bottom for grab

According to Dr. Jeff Hyland, NOAA NCCOS (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Sciences), “People may wonder why scientists want to study the seemingly ‘barren’ sand (or muddy sand) layer that covers vast stretches of the ocean floor. One good reason is because this important habitat is not barren at all! The unconsolidated (loose) bottom that occupies the majority of the sea floor can be teaming with life. The types of animals found can include polycheate worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish. Some are large enough to see with the naked eye, but many are so small that you would need to use a microscope to see them. “

Three men in safety gear standing behind the pyramid shaped grey grab — James, Steve, and Jeff harvest their grab

The crew of scientists using the Van Veen grab equipment include: Dr. Jeff Hyland, James Daugomah, and Steve Roth (Grab Guys) of NOAA’s NCCOS Laboratory in Charleston, SC. Ocean floor mapping is done prior to an ROV dive to help pinpoint the choicest spots for investigation. After the ROV records the video from its dive, the “Grab Guys” go to work. The science team confers and selects the best spots for study. The beginning spot is relayed to the bridge, which then “makes it so” by taking the ship to those coordinates.

So, now what? Every group on deck must wear hard hats and PFDs (life jackets—Personal Floatation Devices) since the winch will be used and they will be working near the side rail of the ship. The fishermen (deck hands), scientists (both observers and the Grab Guys), and anyone who happens to be nearby must wear this equipment. Safety first.

The fishermen and Grab Guys prepare for the sampling by dragging the 300 pound Van Veen grab close to the side. It sits on a specially constructed table made of 2×4 wood and is painted grey.

Sink with water and plug plus two buckets on the left — Benthic cleaning equipment

Nearby, Steve sets up a smaller table with a sink in it, plus several buckets, a large spoon, and two rectangular plastic tubs nearby. I really wondered what that was all about.

The winch hook is attached to the Van Veer grab and everyone stands ready. When the bridge radios to the fishermen that the ship is over the drop site, they spring into action. The winch operator waits for the signal from the lead fisherman that all is ready and is told by hand signals to raise it up. As the winch lifts up the grab, those working the equipment help steady it over the deck and release it when it’s over the side. The grab is lowered to the bottom as the winch operator monitors the amount of cable deployed. The idea is that when the grab hits the bottom the release bar will pop and close the “grab jaws”. If the grab isn’t going fast enough or lands on an angle it won’t close. Plus, it might not go deep enough into the sediment to get a good sample.

Men standing in protective gear looking upward at the winch pulley — Watching the pulley for movement

It takes longer than you would think for that grab to hit bottom. Remember, patience is a virtue. The equipment drops 80 meters per minute. Yesterday we were dropping to 320 meters. All eyes are targeted on the winch’s pulley. When the grab hits the bottom, it causes the pulley on the winch cable to swing, meaning that the grab has made contact. Everyone crosses their fingers that the grab not only closed, but also got a large enough sample for an accurate test. The winch driver begins to retrieve the gear. It’s just like doing a science fair project. You must repeat your experiment and have the right amount of sample so your repeated experiments are as similar as possible when you repeat your procedure. They must make three grabs which bring up the correct amount of sediment. Often trial and error comes into play. The current not only made things difficult for the ROV operations, it made the grab go down at an angle so it wouldn’t close (grab or fire) a few times. They had to keep dropping until it worked correctly. At one point the bottom was 370 meters and we had let out 425 meters of cable. That meant that the wind and the current were really strong and pulling the grab out at an angle.

Pulley wheel hanging from an orange support — The winch pulley moved

Sieve bucket being swirled around in sink — Cleaning the mud off

Once the grab gets a sample, they scoop out sediment with a spoon and put it in a blue bin. This is carried over to a sieve bucket and is half submerged and swished around in the sink to get the mud off. This is repeated until all the sediment particles are clean.

Jeff in white helmet and orange PFD write information on a clipboard — Jeff records important information

The samples are scooped out of the sieve bucket and placed in containers which will be processed back at the laboratory. In general, they are looking for sediment size (grain size), infauna (living organisms from the sediment), and chemicals from man. The containers have been labeled with what tests need to be run. Jeff is recording the numbers on the containers and whether that sediment should be tested for metals, toxicology, total carbon, organics, and sediment size.

Steve in PFD holding container with sediment and pink color — Steve holding organics sample

A special insert is placed in the grab to measure an exact amount of sediment to determine the amount of the infauna. This sample is cleaned and put in a large container with formalin mixed with rose bengal. The rose bengal had been premixed by Dr. Hyland the first day so that when added to the sediment it will turn the living organisms a pink color, making them easier to find.

After the sediment samples are put in the smaller bottles, the top is screwed on, sealed with electrical tape to make sure it doesn’t open, and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. All these benthic samples will be sent to Barry Vittor, a company specializing in sediment analysis.

I have a new appreciation for the sediment in the ocean. I’ve learned that sediment on the north side of a coral mound in the Gulf Stream usually has less nutrients since the current flows from south to north. The coral and other plankton-consuming animals eat a lot of the food flowing in the current over the mound so the water on the north side contains less food and can support less infauna. I hope my students enjoy learning about the benthos as much as I have. Perhaps with the data we collected, scientists will be able to help determine what we need to do to preserve the corals of the reefs.

June 9, 2011April 28, 2021

Sue Zupko: WHNT News Interviews NOAA Teacher at Sea Sue Zupko

Sue Zupko is Interviewed by WHNT News. — Sue Zupko is Interviewed by

Sue Zupko was interviewed by WHNT News about her NOAA Teacher at Sea Cruise. Click the image above to view the video.

June 9, 2011April 28, 2021

Sue Zupko: 12 What’s in the Water?

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to St. Lucie, FL
Date: June 8, 2011
Time: 1900

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 25.3°N 79.6°W
Present weather: 3/8 Alto Cumulus
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 065°true
Wind Speed: 10 kts
Surface Wave Height: 3 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 110°
Swell Wave Height: 3 ft
Surface Water Temperature: 28.4°
Barometric Pressure: 1013.2 mb
Water Depth: 363 m
Salinity: 36.28 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 27.7/24.8

This blog runs in chronological order. If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

Take this quiz before reading this post.

Bucket hanging by rope in water — Straining bucket

Dr. Diego Figueroa and I went fishing over the side of the ship this evening with a straining bucket to try to catch zooplankton (animals which cannot swim against the current–free floating). We had no plankton net so we had to improvise.

Diego pouring a cup of water into a bucket from the bottom — Diego pours water into the bottom of the bucket

Diego, a zooplankton expert, got a plastic container like you’d use to store food in the fridge, and we headed to the lab with what we hoped would be a good catch. He got a cup of salt water from the special faucet in the ship’s science lab and poured it into the bottom of the bucket. As he poured the water, he had the plastic container at the top of the it to retrieve our catch.

Diego peering into a plastic food container with water — Diego examines our catch

We then examined the container to see what the naked eye could find.

Wow! Our first specimen was a shrimp. It’s huge. Well, huge in comparison to the other zooplankton. We still saw it best under the microscope. He left that in to container to pull out later and caught some copepods with an eye dropper.

White buglike creature, transluscent, with long antennae — Calanus copepod

Eureka! There were at least six Calanus copepods. Cope– is Greek for oar or handle and pod– means foot or limb. These are very common off the coast of Florida and about 80% of all the zooplankton on the planet are some type of copepod. He explained that the Calanus has five rows of legs that flap downward (like the doggie paddle that most of of use when learning to swim) in order to move around. The Calanus eats phytoplankton (algae), making it a primary consumer. It has five pairs of mouth parts. The hairy seta (the plural is called setae) act like a sieve when it eats. This is so interesting. The Calanus opens its mouth parts and gathers water molecules toward its body. Then, it pulls its mouth parts in and squeezes the water out. What’s left is a scrumptious meal of diatoms. The grazing copepod we watched was a female. Her tail is shaped differently than the male’s tail.

The shrimp is at least 20 times bigger than the Calanus. Diego hasn’t studied the shrimp like he has the copepods. That’s because the shrimp are one of the bigger zooplankton and large ones make up only about 5% of all zooplankton. He says that there are more copepods in the world than all the insects combined. That makes sense since the earth’s surface is 71% water.

Jellyfish with tentacles spread against a black background with white particles near — Jellyfish in snow

When the ROV was flying through the ocean, we always saw snow in the water. I used to scuba dive a lot and I never really noticed the snow. If it was deep, they weren’t there. Andy David explained that we see them so well since we’re shining light on them. These are mostly zooplankton in the water. In addition, there is a bunch of decaying organic matter called detritus flying along.

Curled up bee looking creature — Hyperiid

Further examination of the water yielded a Microsetella rosea, a hyperiid, and a Chaetognath (arrow worm). The Microsetella is a detritis-eating filter feeder, but it is only about 1/5 the size of the Calanus. Well, with micro in its name, small had to figure into it somehow. Since it’s small, it eats smaller things.

Clear ghost-like arrow-shaped creature surrounded by lines of white — Arrow worm

The arrow worm is like something from a horror movie because it attacks its prey viciously (it’s a carnivore and is a voracious predator). I asked what all the other floating bits were in the water. Detritus. It’s the snow we kept seeing.

White shrimp with one claw showing viewed through microscope — Shrimp

Diego has a special camera which attaches to the microscope. We would examine the zooplankton in the petri dish and then he would take off the microscope eyepiece and insert his camera. Then, through the viewfinder, he would try to find the zooplankton resting somewhere. Apparently, they don’t rest much, but he still got photographs.

Diego searches for our catch under the microscope while Sue looks on — Diego hunting for zooplankton

I really enjoyed this mini lab. Diego taught me things about plankton in general and I now better understand this amazing world of particulates in the ocean a bit better. Jana and I had gone on deck last night to see what it was like in the pitch black. We discovered it isn’t totally dark, though your eyes do have to adjust. The moon kept peeking from between clouds off the starboard (right) side and lights shone from portholes below deck. These lights reflected off the waves and were so fascinating to watch. I’ve only had a beachside view of the ocean at night so this was a real treat. Jana and I watched for bioluminescence in the water, a sign of some plankton. We found little sparkles of green in the wave and hypothesized these were zooplankton. After explaining what we had seen to Diego, he confirmed that these were zooplankton rather than phytoplankton. Zooplankton have little sparkles in turning water while phytoplankton will cover a large area and just glow. Too interesting.

Special thanks to Diego for sharing his knowledge with me after a long day and to Jana for helping get some pictures of this.

And the answer to the quiz above….Copepods. They are so small you don’t notice them, but there are almost as many copepods as there are grains of sand on the beach. It’s hard to fathom that many creatures swimming around. Diego said that they eat the phytoplankton so fast that often there are more zooplankton than phytoplankton.

June 9, 2011April 28, 2021

Sue Zupko: 11 Belts and Suspenders

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to St. Lucie, FL
Date: June 7, 2011
Time: 10:00 EDT

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 27.3°N 79.6°W
Present weather: 4/8 Alto cumulus
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 082°
Wind Speed: 4 kts
Surfacel Wave Height: 2-3 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 100° true
Swell Wave Height: 2-3 ft
Surface Water Temperature: 27.1°
Barometric Pressure: 1014.5mb
Water Depth: 80m
Salinity: 36.56 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 27.2/24

This blog runs in chronological order. If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

The first ROV we used on the Pisces for our Extreme Corals 2011 expedition is a custom designed craft called The Arc. The crew, led by Dr. John Butler at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, has been developing The Arc since 2007 and launched it in January of 2011. The Arc is ideal for monitoring fisheries, improving species identification, and developing new methods of studying fisheries. It can withstand pressures and dive to 1000 meters (actually it dives to 600 meters since that is how long the tether is). When on land, it weights 264 kg (580 pounds). It has a rectangular prism shape with a length of 190 cm (75 in), width of 117 cm (46 in), and a height of 84 cm (33 in). Just for fun, do this math quiz.

The pilot sits on the ship and tells The Arc what to do. It’s like playing a video game. The pilot and his navigator coordinate movements, watching the computer screen with the ship’s and The Arc’s positions clearly showing. The navigator is in constant communication with the officers on the bridge of the Pisces using a walkie-talkie to relay messages and information between the ship’s pilot and the ROV’s pilot. The bridge also has a navigation screen to monitor the position of the ship relative to the ROV. The fishermen on the deck running the winch also have walkie-talkies so they can be told when to adjust the length of the cable to the ROV. Communication is very important.

Front of ROV with headlights peering down. Lots of black tubing and a yellow rectagle. — Front of ROV

The ROV is pretty neat. It has headlights similar to robots from old Sci-Fi movies so it appears creature-like, but without the spindly legs. Bright lights are needed because that’s about the only light that is available at great depths. There are four LED lights with 2600 lumens each. A 100 watt incandescent light bulb in your lamp has about 1750 lumens. How many lumens total does the ROV produce? Again, doing the math it would be 2600×4=10,400 lumens for the ROV. This is roughly twice as much as your four lightbulbs at home. Looking at the pictures from the bottom of the sea where it is normally dark and the tiny amount of light reaching the bottom makes everything look dark blue or black (see my earlier post on light in the ocean) we can see the colors almost as they would appear in a tidal pool.

The ROV has many instruments to measure data and take photographs of what it “sees.” It has a CTD ( measures Conductivity, from which we calculate salinity, Temperature, and Depth) as well as an oxygen sensor. The best part is the laser beam system which measures things like a ruler. With the help of the high definition camera, we were able to see the fish and invertebrates we were studying. Using the laser beams, we could not only measure their size, but how far away they were.

Crab on sandy bottom with 4 red laser beam lights and one green — Cancer borealis

Note the red dots parallel to each other. The top two red ones are always 20 cm apart and in this picture the two on the bottom are 40 cm apart. The green light helps measure the distance to the crab. Apparently this crab is about 20 cm across. The lasers are fabulous for helping to keep things in perspective.

Yellow hose with some pink covering — ROV Tether

Dave Murfin, one of the ROV crew, was commenting to me about this picture after reading my blog. He said the pink stuff was the foam jacket used for floatation cut off from an old ROV cable, and he thought it looked ugly. However, given a new perspective of it, he thinks it looks cool. The pink foam helps protect the tether on deck and if it scrapes across rocks on the ocean floor. These ROV engineers added the large floats for the last 40 meters of the tether to keep it off the bottom and avoid becoming tangled in the coral and rocky habitats we are studying.

Spool with yellow tether — Spool of ROV tether

The tether for The Arc is wrapped on a spool for easy retrieval and transport. It is 610 meters long and has three fiber optic cables in the center surrounded by insulation. Around that are copper wires to conduct power from the ship, which is why they need a cable. If it ran on a battery, like a submarine, it could be on the bottom alone and the scientists would have to wait for it to return to see what data was stored inside. By using a tether, the scientists have much more control and can move the ship to study something of interest. Although technology is rapidly advancing, it is not quite possible yet to create a vehicle which would do everything the scientists need. Therefore, we continue to use the tether with the ROVs.

So, what do belts and suspenders have to do with the ROV? Well, there is an old saying that you don’t rely on just one thing; you always have a backup. If the belt on your pants doesn’t work, you have the suspenders to hold them up. The Arc is a new system. It is the belt and the system with 700+ dives to its credit is the spare (suspenders), just in case. Technology. It can be fabulous, but very frustrating when it gives you problems. As a teacher, I have to plan for technology to be down as well. I can’t have my whole lesson plan revolving around technology. What if the internet is down that day? Well, the students could get pretty wild without a back up plan. As my mom used to say, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” What if the basket dropped? You are out of luck.

As I mentioned before in my blog, these men and women are dedicated professionals. They have lots of experience with this equipment and know the unexpected can happen. If you forecast about the unexpected, you can be prepared. I have always known that duct tape is a useful tool. Bungee cords are useful. Redundant cables, nuts, bolts, and spare parts are all on board. Having the spare ROV was just good planning and good sense. We have still been able to work our mission with some modifications. Bravo to this bunch for continuing to make things happen despite the unexpected happening. Because of them, we have some wonderful video and photographs to see what is happening on the coral reefs we have been studying.

Scott searching for cables in a box — Scott Mau searches for necessary cables

And the answer to the poll at the beginning of this post is…less than 2 knots. They really prefer currents less than 0.5 knots. This week we’ve launched in currents which were 3.5 knots. Sometimes it caused problems, sometimes not. Here are some pictures from the bottom.

Purple sponge which looks like a jaw opening from the bottom. — Purple barrel sponge

Pinkish purple sea fan on bottom — Sea Fan Octocoral

Sea floor with white whiplike strands — Black coral "forest", Stichopathes

Everyone keeps asking me if I have driven the ROV. I asked the ROV crew about it and they all just smiled. Although it looks like a video game, the ROV is not a toy and not to be given to a novice to control. Considering I can’t get down the stream on Wii Fit without crashing into the side of the stream, they sure don’t want me at the helm of this incredible piece of technology. With the ROV, there is no opportunity for a second chance if you crash and burn. Therefore, I’ll leave the driving to them.

Men watching computer screens in control room piloting the ROV — Teamwork. Kevin is piloting the ROV with the help of John and Dave.