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Olympic
Coast National Marine Sanctuary
SSE Accomplishments
Report
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Technicians
synchronize watches with pilots Dana
Wilkes and Annette Hoffman in an attempted
two-sub dive. Visibility and launch timing
problems subsequently forced the mission
to be scrubbed. (Photo credit: Bob
Steelquist)
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Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary staff
spent months organizing and preparing for the 1999
Sustainable Seas Expeditions. The Olympic Coast
Expeditions had three primary objectives: 1)
collect information to better characterize
sanctuary resources and habitats; 2) bring this
information "home" to the average citizen and in
turn encourage a marine conservation ethic; and 3)
test the effectiveness of using submersibles for
inventorying sanctuary resources.
Mechanical
difficulties and adverse weather interrupted the
missions, disappointing investigators and hindering
their scientific investigations. However, all
participants were seasoned veterans of logistical
problems that occur while working in remote and
exposed coastal areas, and they took things in
stride. Project scientists intend to follow up on
the research projects in forthcoming missions.
One
planned project involved using DeepWorker to
conduct surveys of benthic habitats exposed to
different degrees of bottom trawling.
Unfortunately, due to ship mechanical problems and
some launching difficulties with
the
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DeepWorker
preparing to dive off Chibadehl Rocks,
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Tatoosh Island is visible in the distance.
(Photo credit: Bob Steelquist)
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submersibles, this assessment of seafloor
communities had to be postponed. However, video
transects were conducted at alternate sites off
Cape Flattery, the northern most sanctuary
boundary, where scuba divers conduct similar
surveys in shallower waters. This confirmed that
DeepWorker is an appropriate tool for benthic
habitat assessments and extended one video transect
half way across the continental shelf. Similarly, a
project to use two DeepWorkers simultaneously to
record fish behavior for future population
estimates was not conducted as planned, but the
proof of concept was confirmed.
Two
scheduled science projects were not conducted at
all. One combined exploration and science that
would have been the first video survey of the Juan
de Fuca Canyon. Mechanical problems and poor
weather scrubbed this mission. Also, dives planned
along a cold-seep area to examine geological
formations and biological communities must wait for
another year.
One of
the greatest achievements of Sustainable Seas
Expeditions in Olympic Coast National Marine
Sanctuary this first year is the demonstration that
multiple agencies and individuals can work together
in difficult circumstances. The sanctuary offers a
big thank you to all involved. This includes
personnel from the U.S. Navy ship Discovery Bay
and our research partners from Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Geological
Survey, and National Marine Fisheries Service.
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Olympic
Coast National Marine Sanctuary's
Expeditions operations crew. Clockwise
from upper right: Andy Palmer, Tatoosh
skipper; Ed Bowlby, Mission Coordinator,
pilot and Research Coordinator; Mary Sue
Brancato, pilot and Resource Protection
Specialist; Carol Bernthal, Sanctuary
Superintendent; Annette Hoffman, WDFW
biostatistician and pilot; Tom Jagiello,
WDFW fish biologist and pilot; Bob
Steelquist, pilot, Mission Log Coordinator
and Education Coordinator. (Photo credit:
Bob Steelquist)
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