Indonesian
- U.S. Scientists Find
Unusual
Inhabitants
A
circle
of
students
show
their
wrist
bands with the message Duta
Samudra, proclaiming them "Ocean Ambassadors” after their pledges to
learn about, protect and teach others about the ocean
A rare and
exciting look at the seafloor –
with images
of unusual and beautiful creatures – was offered to U.S. and Indonesian scientists working
side-by-side at
Exploration Command Centres in Jakarta and Seattle this summer.
More
scientists from additional locations
ashore
participated using cutting-edge technology to fill their screens with
live
views of seafloor geology and of deep-ocean marine animals in waters
off Indonesia.
As part of
a joint mission, scientists from
the United
States and Indonesia partnered in a new model of ocean exploration
that
adds intellectual capital ashore to expeditions at sea. Scientists on
land and
technicians at sea were connected in real-time and received data and
information from sensors and systems on the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.
Called telepresence, the technology uses links via satellite and
high-speed
Internet pathways.
Jane Lubchenco Ph.D
Under Secretary
Of
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
“Seeing
these
live
images
from
a
world
away
is even more astounding and exciting than I had hoped
it
would be when we were planning this. Having the ability to connect many
scientists representing multiple disciplines to share observations in
real time
is invaluable.”
One hundred
hours of video footage and
approximately
100,000 photos from high-definition cameras on the Institute for
Exploration’s
remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) Little Hercules were collected during
27 dives
from the Okeanos Explorer ranging in depth from approximately 800 feet
to over
two miles. The high-definition imagery provided never-before-seen views
of
seascapes and colorful, fascinating marine animals. Some expedition
scientists
believe that conservatively, 40 or more potential new species were
observed.
Professor
Verena
Tunnicliffe
University
Of
VictoriaBC. Canada Exploration Command
Centre
“Stalked
sea
lilies
once
covered
the
ocean,
shallow
and deep, but now are rare. “I’ve only seen
a few in
my career, but on this expedition, I was amazed to see them in great
diversity
on nearly every ROV dive. I’ve seen them before in other places around
seafloor
vents, but those animals were perhaps an inch in size. The sea spiders
imaged
on this mission were huge, eight inches or more across.”
One animal
that was imaged more than a half a
mile deep
on the seafloor appears as a lovely flower in a garden, but scientists
think it
is likely a sponge and probably carnivorous. This animal appears to
have glass
needles covered with sticky tissue. The needles slowly telescope out to
capture
food, most likely zooplankton passing by. Marine
biologist
Tim
Shank
followed
the
first
part
of the mission from his lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution in Massachusetts. Later while serving as lead scientist
standing
watches with Indonesian colleagues in the Exploration Command Centre in
Jakarta, he joined expedition scientists online,
discussing
what they were observing on live video. Time-coded to
the video from
the seafloor, their comments will later help identify deep sea marine
animals and geologic features.
“This
first
exploration
of
the
Indonesian
deep-sea
has
revealed a high diversity of species
and a
significantly different composition between shallower water fauna and
deep-sea
fauna. This discovery is significant because it suggests that the
evolutionary
processes that shaped this deep-sea faunal diversity may be similar to
those
that resulted in the high diversity of shallow water fauna in the
broader Coral
Triangle region.”
As part of
this mission, NOAA’s Office of
Ocean Exploration and
Research (OER) and its Indonesian partners led multiple
education-focused
activities. Students in Indonesia and the U.S. could participate in educational activities
designed
for the mission and written in both Bahasa Indonesia and English. OER
partnered
with SeaWorld Indonesia where students pledged to become Duta
Samudra, or
Ocean Ambassadors, and learn about, protect, and teach someone about
their
ocean every day. The Exploratorium in San Francisco also brought the excitement of the expedition
to
onsite visitors and others around the world through telepresence and
webcasts.
NOAA: Okeanos Explorer - Indonesia
Click on Video
bar to View
full
screen - Click
Esc
to
return to page
The joint
ocean expedition began June 23 and
concluded
on August 14 when NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer left Indonesian waters
after
conducting weeks of complimentary operations with the Indonesian
Research and
Fisheries Vessel Baruna Jaya IV. On July 18 the Baruna Jaya IV joined
the
Okeanos Explorer in the expedition, collecting biological samples and
mapping
nearly 21,000 square miles of sea floor.
Working
together, the two ships demonstrated
the power
of the U.S. – Indonesia ocean exploration partnership. Neither ship
alone
could have accomplished what the two have done together. The 2010
expedition is
the first in a multi-year partnership to explore Indonesia’s seas and part of a broader agreement
between NOAA
and the Indonesian Ministry for Marine Affairs and Fisheries to work as
partners toward resolving ocean-related issues that affect us all.
At the
conclusion of the expedition, leaders
from NOAA
and Indonesia agencies joined the crews of both ships, as well as other
invited
guests in a celebration where teams from both countries exchanged data
collected, as well as large pennants signed by each of the teams that
both
ships had flown during the mission. Leaders from both agencies
expressed a
strong desire to explore together again in the years ahead as part of
this
multi-year partnership.
In
the
closing
ceremony
in
Bitung
Indonesia.
Representing friendship and
scientific cooperation between ships and nations, Commanding Officer of
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Joe Pica, and Master of the Indonesian
Research and Fisheries Vessel Amir Anshori exchanged pennants that were
flown on each vessel and signed by crew members
NOAA Ship
Okeanos Explorer is jointly
operated, managed
and maintained by NOAA's Office of Marine
and Aviation Operations (which includes commissioned officers of the
NOAA Corps and civilian wage
mariners), and by NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research,
which is
responsible for operating all of the cutting-edge mission systems. The
ship is
the only federal ship dedicated to systematic exploration of the
planet’s
largely unknown ocean.
NOAA’s
mission is to understand and predict
changes in
the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of
the
sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources.
