Hi everyone!  Heather J here to share that the DEEPEND team has made it to their homes today-  we spent some time breaking down the lab, nets, and acoustics Tuesday and Wednesday, loading the truck and helped packed the last samples this morning at 3:30 am. Whew!  We did it- Another successful cruise with a different approach as it's part of the Deep Sea Benefits project we're just starting.  Can't wait to put the complete story together!

Here's a few pictures of some of the team in the last couple of days working hard... We can't thank the crew of the R/V Point Sur enough for their dedication to making sure we had a safe and rewarding cruise.  We are planning to be back out next year twice-  once in late April for our new NOAA RESTORE cruise and then in August for our next Deep Sea Benefits cruise.  Stay tuned for the next adventures!

Hello, deep-sea enthusiasts! It is Pedro A. Peres again with one more post on the blog. Today, I will talk more about metabarcoding environmental DNA (a long and fancy name for eDNA) being used to answer questions about the deep sea.

First thing, why is everybody talking about eDNA? This technique has gained popularity as a noninvasive method to inform conservation and management practices. By analyzing DNA shed by individuals in the environment, eDNA can characterize ecological communities of marine habitats that are not easily accessible and detect specific species and their spatial distribution without collecting specimens. In other words, eDNA does not require direct interaction with the organisms to obtain samples, minimizes disturbing animals and their habitat, and is particularly useful for monitoring protected species/areas for which obtaining sample permits can be restricted, time-consuming, or costly. Sounds amazing, right? But it is not as easy as it sounds. One of the significant challenges in using eDNA in the deep sea is collecting the environmental samples – water from the deep!

In this first NOAA Deep-sea Benefits (DSB) expedition, I am testing different eDNA samplers for current and future deep-sea investigations. One is very convenient, as it can be used with Niskin bottles coupled with a CTD, standard gears found in research vessels. After deployment, Niskin bottles can be triggered at a specific depth and location to collect water samples. After collection, water samples are filtered, and the filters are preserved for future processing. Looking at the photo, you might think: Ghostbusters? Dora the Explorer? Actually, just a scientist with a backpack eDNA sampler (https://store.smith-root.com/collections/edna-water-samplers/products/edna-sampler-backpack-lith-combo)

Photo:  eDNA backpack (aka Edna) to filter water samples

After bringing the CTD back on board, I’m connecting the backpack to the Niskin bottles to filter the water collected. We will use these samples to characterize deep-sea communities from different locations and understand their dynamics during day-night cycles. I’m thrilled to return to the lab and start working on these samples to unveil some deep-sea mysteries. Most of the fun is about to come. But while on board, although not seeing the animals, filtering water can has given me some excellent views!

Photo:  Pedro and Edna enjoying the sunrise!

By Aedan Mell

Hello, I am a research technician from the Marine Ecology and Acoustics Lab at FIU under Professor Boswell. I just graduated last spring with my bachelors and now I’m taking some time to gain more experience before graduate school. I got the opportunity to come along on this trip to help out with the acoustic transect surveys. We have 4 echosounders each transmitting adifferent frequency to allow us to observe Diel Vertical Migration, the largest animal migration on Earth that happens every day. It describes the synchronized vertical movement of deep sea animals and zooplankton to the surface at night to feed on phytoplankton. With our echosounders, we can observe this phenomenon as deep scattering layers that we can track vertically over the course of a 24-hour period.

Photo: Aedan with the CTD which sends some of the acoustic equipment down into the midwater column

This is my first trip doing research this far out at sea. It's also my first time actually working with echosounders, which is exciting because it's the instrument most of our lab’s work revolves around. I'm more familiar with another type of acoustic instrument called multibeam imaging sonar. This type of sonar uses multiple beams at high frequencies to record high definition acoustic footage. Personally, this is my favorite type of hydroacoustic instrument, as it allows you to see individual organisms and observe how they move through the field of view. It's also sometimes referred to as an acoustic camera, as its footage is more representative as a video footage rather than a standard echosounder echogram.

For our trip we brought a Kongsberg M3 multibeam imaging sonar. At 500 kHz, this model runs at a relatively lower frequency for an imaging sonar, facilitating greater sampling volume and range at the cost of reduced resolution. I'm super excited to drop this in the water and see what's going on down there. Hopefully our data will help us in target classification. A big issue with the echosounders is that it can be difficult to classify what kind of organisms are in these deep scattering layers. By dropping imaging sonar into these layers we could get a better idea of their compositions based on the observed morphologies of the acoustic targets. Maybe if we’re lucky, we might be able to see some predator prey interactions at night!

Photo:  Threadfin dragonfish 

From watching sharks surround our boat at night to pulling up rare deep sea critters, there have been so many great experiences on this trip it's hard to fit everything in this post. Just this morning our boat was surrounded by a huge pod of dolphins. One of the best nights was when we had to dock at a port in Pensacola to get away from Hurricane Francine. We were all a little bit seasick so getting off the boat was a welcome development. We went out to eat and got to know each other better while in port. It's been such a great experience, not only just to learn more about marine research and get professional insight from deep sea experts, but also to make friends and get to see what life is like on a research vessel.

Photos:  Sun over Gulf of Mexico; pod of Pantropical Spotted dolphins.

Hi Everyone, Zan here to share the workhorse of our operations....

The heart of our midwater animal sampling program is the 10-m² MOCNESS, which stands for “Multiple Opening-Closing Environmental Net and Sensing System”. That’s a pretty long name, so let’s break it down! The 10-m² part refers to the size of the MOCNESS frame: ours is pretty large, which is great for sampling the “micronekton” (animals roughly 2 – 20cm in size), but there are lots of other sizes if you prefer to sample smaller animals.

Photos:  Varying stages of the MOC prep that is involved before it is deployed.

The “Multiple” part of the name means that the MOCNESS is rigged up with several different nets. Unlike other fishing nets that might stay open the whole time you’re fishing with it, the MOCNESS has a number of different nets that can be opened and closed (the “Opening-Closing” part) at whatever depths we choose,  allowing us to sample specific depths of the water column. We have six nets on our 10-m2 MOCNESS, and one of our jobs is to decide what depths to target so that we get the best possible catches. Given that the animals we’re interested in catching all have specific depths that they prefer to live at during the day, and often migrate to different ones at night, having the ability to sample exact depth ranges is incredibly important for us to understand the ecology of our midwater animals and their behaviors. We make good use of our fisheries acoustics to help us decide where to fish!

 Photo:  Examples of Lanternfish that are caught in the MOC

The other parts of the name relate to the sensors that are mounted on the MOCNESS frame to help us understand the physical and chemical properties of the water column as we fish, and to make sure that the MOCNESS is moving correctly through the water. To make sure the MOCNESS is fishing correctly, we monitor the angle of the frame in the water, the horizontal and vertical speeds, and the depth of the gear in the water column. This last one is especially important because it tells us when to send a signal to the MOCNESS to switch to the next net. Different environmental sensors could be used, but the ones we’re mostly using include depth, temperature, and salinity, and we compare those to the CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) casts that we’re making.

Photos:  Example of the MOC profile when nets are open/closed;  Zan's MOC monitoring station

Hello everyone! My name is Zachary Strebeck and I am a graduate student in Dr Tammy Frank’s deep-sea crustacean lab. I have spent a large amount of time identifying different deep-sea shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico down to species level!

Photo:  Zach; Photo credit: Savannah Strebeck

While I may have spent a lot of time with all the different kinds that the gulf has to offer, my focus is dealing with a shrimp family called Benthesicymidae. The name may seem intimidating, but they are simply a species that typically is found between 800-1200 meters and is a large consumer of the organic debris that sinks in the ocean, called marine snow.

Photo:  Deep sea shrimp

               I have the amazing opportunity to be on my first research cruise out here with the DEEPEND crew and I am having a wonderful time!! We have seen all sorts of cool specimens in our nets already, with much more to come and I am excited to see what other secrets the deep has to offer. Here are just a few of the critters we have pulled up so far!!

Photo:  Cystisoma (deep sea amphipod); small octopus

               Speaking of it being my first cruise, we successfully outran hurricane Francine! Talk about throwing me in headfirst to see how I handle rough seas. In any case, I am having a blast and can’t wait to see what shenanigans the upcoming days are to be filled with!