|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Sanctuary Explorer Describes Life Below the Waves in the Aquarius Undersea LabCathy Sakas,education coordinator for the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, and five other aquanauts spent nine days in an Aquarius, an undersea laboratory off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. During her underwater adventure, Sakas studied corals that had become encrusted and colonized by algae. If the travel brochure had read "fall asleep to the soothing sound of snapping shrimp crackling in your ears, enjoy fine dining while watching big lipped groupers and slender yellowtails cruise by your private dining room table, thrill to the underwater vistas of a beautiful coral reef, bask in the warmth of clear blue ocean water, and stretch the muscles of your mind and body while diving for seven plus hours each day," wouldn't you sign up immediately? Well, I did! Only it wasn't a travel brochure that hooked me. It was a call from Dr. Steve Gittings NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Science Coordinator. When he asked if I wanted to become an Aquanaut, I leaped at the chance. It's not everyday that a lady can live with the fish and lobster and have five good looking guys as companions for nine days. Living underwater
in the Aquarius lab allowed Cathy and the other
divers to spending longer hours doing
research. The four of us were put through a rigorous training program expertly led by National Undersea Research Center staffers Mark Hulsbeck, a former Navy helicopter rescue crewman aka known as "Otter," and Paul Masaki, an incredible free diver. Both men were tough yet always encouraging. Even for this several decades old lady (a lady never tells her true age), they pulled no punches. They couldn't. This was technical diving that required us to be completely trained for all contingencies and emergencies. It was drilled into our heads that "the surface is not an option," that "safety is paramount" and that "slack is our enemy." (The latter phrase referring to the need to keep our reel lines taunt.) The "surface is not an option" referred to the fact that our surface was not the surface as we normally knew it to be. Our surface was 47' down at our underwater habitat called Aquarius. Our bodies were saturated at 2.5 atmospheres. Coming to the one atmosphere surface without sufficient decompression time would have resulted in decompression sickness better known to divers as the bends. By working in and out of Aquarius we maximized our diving time. Our normal schedule was to be up and out of the habitat at 8 AM and be on our research sites by 8:30 AM. By 10:30 AM we had to check in at one of the fill-up stations that were small domes where we could stand up with our shoulders and heads out of the water. We talked to our ever vigilant and amiably attentive technicians and fellow Aquanauts Jay Styron and Mike Smith. These guys had the hardest task of all. They had to keep track of us and work on the habitat or tag fish one at a time (one always had to be inside Aquarius) venturing only as far as their hookah line would allow. The required check-in every two hours also allowed us time to refill our tanks. By noon we returned to Aquarius for four hours of rest and to outgas a little. We used the time to eat, catch up on e-mail messages, transfer data, nap and watch the news on the internet. Our first day of saturation was the day of catastrophe, September 11th. We heard of the attacks when we returned to Aquarius at the completion of that first morning dive. After much discussion and calls home to make sure our families were safe we decided to continue the mission. Continuing the mission we reasoned would better serve our country since there was not a lot we could do otherwise. We did ask for and receive two American flags, one to hang inside Aquarius and one to flap in the currents just outside the habitat. We received several messages from folks who were tracking us that they were moved by our show of patriotism. Even though removed from the events unfolding topside, we could access the Internet to hear the news and see the horrible images. By 4 PM we were always ready to head out on our afternoon dive. While James observed the social foraging behavior of fish, Laddie his partner was censusing fish. Their studies meshed well, and they could do their own research close by without getting in each other's way. They were never a breath's distance from each other, another safety tenet drilled home by our instructors. I was privileged [Causey] as my partner. Our research had us working literally side by side, fin to fin. While I surveyed four 25 meter transect lines for benthic (bottom) cover, Billy assessed the size and condition of the hard corals on my first two transect lines. If he finished his work before I did he would grab his digital video recorder and document the reef and its many colored inhabitants. If he became absorbed in the pursuit of some odd fish or excited about the large schools of Gray Angelfish we were seeing I would stop my survey and follow……never being more than a breath's distance from each other at all times. Your buddy was your safety net. My work required that I keep my head down and my feet up which afforded me the ability to look at the bottom, touching it sparingly. While I was doing my work I had the advantage of seeing an amazing number of Spiny Lobsters. After Tropical Storm Gabrielle passed over us it seemed the lobsters came in by the droves. Under every nook and cranny, in every crack and crevice there were the liquid black eyes of a wary lobster staring back. We also observed the amazing phenomenon of large aggregations of non-spawning fish-Mutton Snappers (~1000), Gray Angelfish (~60), and Spotfin Hogfish (~80). We did not see those large groupings until Gabrielle left us with so much turbidity that we had only 5' &endash; 15' visibility. Prior to Gabrielle the "viz" was a gorgeous 75'. Now being 50' down while a tropical storm passes overhead is an interesting experience in and of itself. I awoke at 3 AM the morning Gabrielle passed through because my ears were killing me. As the waves passed by they compressed the air inside the habitat. My ears were already compromised due to an infection and were very sensitive to the slightest changes. Dr. Richard Courtney, our medical dive officer on loan from the Navy, visited me several times in Aquarius to keep me medicated and diving, but there wasn't much he could for the pain short of doping me up which was not an option. So that morning the pressure changes got my attention, and the door to our entry porch was closed eliminating most of the discomfort with the storm. Every now and then however a large wave would pass over, and Aquarius would lift and shake, a most disconcerting feeling. Just for grins I blew up a garbage bag and hung it in the wet porch where we entered and exited the water. The bag contracted and expanded in response to the passing waves compressing and decompressing the air. It was a graphic image of what our eardrums were experiencing. I didn't really need a reminder, but it was cool to watch. With Gabrielle confining us to the habitat for an entire day we were able to catch up on our data and sleep; however, by the next morning we were all ready to get back outside. Billy asked if I minded diving with the viz so low. My response was that it looked pretty much like a typical day at Gray's Reef, so off we went. Our training with our dive cave reels came into practical use for the rest of the mission. We used them to mark our way off the main transit lines that directed us back to Aquarius. We were encouraged to pull ourselves along the lines to conserve energy and air; however, all of us rarely did that, finding it more comfortable and efficient to swim close to the bottom. On our last two dives Billy and I were working the S-4 area at 100', a stunningly beautiful area. The current was so strong that when I saw Billy go to the transit line I knew I better follow suit. Billy is an incredibly powerful swimmer (I referred to him as a moose on several occasions), and for him to need help against the current meant that it was an unusually strong force, another present from Gabrielle. I was glad for the lines. On that very last dive while my nose was next to a coral boulder I noticed one of those beautifully marked Spiny Lobsters meticulously using her legs and mouthparts called mandibles to move water over her swimmerets. There nestled against her abdomen were hundreds of bright red peppercorn size eggs. To keep them free of debris and bacteria she kept water flowing over them. It was fascinating to watch. Eye to eye like that with a creature makes you do funny things. I had a mental conversation with this magnificent marine wonder. I made her a promise that no matter what was happening in my crazy terrestrial world I would do my best to make her saltwater world a healthier, safer place for her offspring and theirs for generations to come. I really meant it, and she understood. Of course some would say I was "narced," giddy from the high levels of nitrogen in my tissues from being saturated; however, I think I was just having one of those naturalist moments when you connect at some level with another life form. Just ask Billy, James, Steve or Laddie or anyone else for that matter who has had the great good fortune to live closely among the fish and lobsters and other sea creatures. Above all else, go and have your own natural history moment all to yourself in the great blue under on your own beautiful coast or wherever you choose. Just go and do it! To read the daily logs of the "Sanctuary Saturation" Aquarius Mission go to: http://www.uncwil.edu/nurc/aquarius/ . Click on 2001 Missions Completed in the middle of the page at the bottom. From there click on September 2001 - Causey Mission and then click on Expedition Journals. Explore the rest of the website to find out more about this incredible NOAA owned and University of NC at Wilmington operated Aquarius Program or contact the Center Director Dr. Steven Miller at 305-451-0233.
|
 |
Revised November 08, 2001 by Sanctuaries Web Group Many links leave the National Marine Sanctuary Web Site - please view our Link Disclaimer for more information National Ocean Service | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | U.S. Department of Commerce | NOAA Library | Privacy Policy Contact Us | http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/features/news011107.html |
