Yesterday morning we deployed our drone - an "autonomous underwater vehicle or AUV." The unit will move to various ocean depths across the next two weeks and collect water parameters. When we are ready for it, we will signal for it to stop and go to the surface. It will then start "pinging" using a GPS unit and we will locate and retrieve it.

Happy Tuesday from the middle of the Gulf where the temperature is hot, the water is like glass, and the sun is shining! 

The past few days have been early mornings for all of us on the R.V. Point Sur. The nets come up around 3:30 -3:45 a.m. and the processing begins immediately and lasts between three to five hours! The scientists methodically sort out the specimens according to their specialty and the lab is flowing with scientific names! At first it was a bit overwhelming because I had no idea what all of the scientific names were (I was only familiar with the common names), but after a few days, multiple samples, and seeing the same organisms over and over, I’m beginning to recognize the various species.

We have been catching some pretty awesome fish, crustaceans, larva, cephalopods, and jellies. The colors of the animals are mostly black and deep red with many bioluminescent capabilities. The organisms are full of extraordinary photophores, tiny and complex light emitting organs, which allow them to emit bursts and pulses of light, whether it is for communication, mate attraction, or predator avoidance. Some of the photophores were still emitting light when we looked at them under the microscope! I will post some of those pictures tomorrow so stay tuned! 

Below are pictures of some of the amazing critters we have been fortunate to observe. Some pictures I took and some were provided by our amazing photographer on board, Dante Fenolio. 

The picture on the left is the cod end of the net where all the organisms are, and the picture on the right is an example of one net sample. Once it is poured into the container all of the scientists go through it and sort out the species they study. 

                           Deep sea crustaceans!                                                                     Deep sea squid, Abralia redfieldi

Hatchetfish!

The picture on the left is of a female anglerfish! The females are the ones that have the lures, not the males. They typically use the lures to attract prey. The picture on the right is what happens when a styrofoam cup is submerged into the ocean 1500 meters! The pressure is so great that it crushes the cup to this minute size. 

                                                           Tiny anemone larvae that we found in several of our samples today! 

I will post more amazing pictures and information tomorrow! Thanks for following the teacher at sea blog! 

Alisha Stahl 

The sunset last night was gorgeous!

Our morning began nice and early at 2 a.m. with the deployment of the MOCNESS! This was our trial run to make sure that the apparatus works correctly. The net was down for about two hours and fished the top 200 meters. When the net surfaced it was safely secured on the vessel, the samples were collected and taken into the wet lab, placed in the sample tray, and the specimens were all processed.  In our trial sample we found several species of fish including dragonfish, lanternfish, eels, over two hundred crustaceans, pteropods, a cephalopod, and many planktonic larvae. The trial run was a great snapshot of what is to come, which is extremely exciting and leaves me just wanting to learn and see more. The diversity that I saw this morning was simply incredible! To be able to see these organisms firsthand and not on a documentary or in pictures is such a rare opportunity and I can’t wait to share more with you over the next two weeks! There will be more cool species to report tomorrow once our sampling continues. We ran into a few technical difficulties that occurred this morning so hopefully we will be up and running tonight!

Emptying the trial sample.                                                                  Pteropods, also known as Sea Butterfly's. 

Over 200 Crustaceans were collected.                                                    Ceratoscopelus warmingii 

After our trial sample and breakfast it was time to deploy the AUV.  Charles Kovach, a research scientist at USF College of Marine Science, successfully deployed the University of South College of Marine Science AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) Glider into the Gulf of Mexico. Chad Lembke is the leader of the Gulf Glider Task Team at USF College of Marine Science and works collaboratively with GCOOS / GANDALF (Gulf Coast Ocean Observing System) which is based out of Texas A&M but operate regionally.

The Glider will be roaming the waters of the Gulf for the next 14 days and will be retrieved at the last site we sample. You can follow the AUV at http://gcoos2.tamu.edu/gandalf/. The AUV is programmed to surface every three hours and will travel up and down in the water column between 200-1,000 meters in the Loop current. The AUV provides scientists with real time data on key abiotic and biotic factors in the ocean such as chlorophyll, temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, conductivity, turbidity, and dissolved organic matter. The overall goal is to show a correlation between the chemical and physical composition of the ocean and how it directly relates to the strength and success of an ecosystem.

Until tomorrow my friends!

Alisha

Greetings from the R.V. Point Sur! My name is Alisha Stahl and I’m your teacher at sea from Ellenton, Fl. It is such an honor to be chosen for this position and to be given the opportunity to work with some of the most distinguished scientists from Nova Southeastern University, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, Florida Atlantic University, Texas A&M at Galveston, and Florida International University.  The research we will be focusing on over the next two weeks is developing a quantitative taxonomic assessment of deep sea pelagic species of the northern Gulf of Mexico in the region surrounding the Deepwater Horizons oil spill.

The R.V. Point Sur diligently set sail around midnight on August 8, 2015 with all 15 scientists and a multitude of crew members on board. Prior to our departure everyone spent the first few hours setting up their bunks or state rooms and getting settled in for the next 15 days. The rooms are spacious and comfortable with ample storage to keep all of our items, while the swaying of the Gulf’s waves rocked each of us into a deep slumber.

 The first site is roughly 200 miles offshore resulting in about 20 hours of travel time on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon. The waves are about three feet high, the sun is shining, and the water is gradually taking on a gorgeous deep blue hue with sporadic racks of Saragassum floating by. The day was spent resting, going over protocol, and setting up the MOCNESS (Multiple Opening and Closing Net and Environmental Sampling System) net.

The MOCNESS is a unique apparatus consisting of several nets stacked on top of one another in a single frame which is then towed behind the boat. The scientists can manipulate the nets to open and close based on the depth in which they want to measure. During this research trip the net will be broken up into six different nets labeled 0-5. Net zero will be deployed, remain open, and sample the first 1500 meters, net one 1500-1200 meters, net two 1200-1000 meters, net three 1000-600 meters, net four 600- 200 meters, and net five 200 meters to the surface. Each tow will last six hours and then the samples will be processed according to protocols set by the chief scientist (Tracey Sutton). The benefit of using a net system such as the MOCNESS is that it allows scientists to  study specific depth ecosystems more efficiently especially since the organisms living in the deep move a lot slower, making them a little easier to catch.

Can’t wait to share what we collect tonight during our first tows!!!