1 I probably can squeeze in about 15 minutes of this. I'm going to 



2 , take a speakers prerogative and use up all of my 30 minutes and ask you 



3 to ask questions during the coffee break or lunch or this evening. 



4 I think what I have to show you on this color video tape here will 



5 say much better than I can verbally here on what the nature of these 



6 very unique submarine canyon habitats and their associated fauna are. 



7 The biology and geology of some 18 submarine canyons, ranging from 



8 Corsair to Norfolk, was studied primarily through the use of 



9 submersibles from 1973 through '84. This was a cooperative effort 



10 between NMFS and the U.S. Geological Survey, with my good friend Page 



11 Valentine here, providing much of the geological expertise. 



12 The lion's share of this effort was directed towards the Georges 



13 Bank canyons, and those immediately to the southwest, i.e., Atlantis, 



14 Block, and Hudson. The motivation for these canyon studies was 



15 fisheries assessment, habitat definition--thus the concentrated efforts 



16 on habitat-type definition, and the description and quantification of 



17 associated megabenthic fauna. 



18 These studies were directed towards the canyon heads. In 



19 anticipation of exploratory drilling for oil and gas on Georges Bank in 



20 1981, a before-, during-, and post-drilling study was conducted at seven 



21 site-specific locations, including five canyon sites, to identify 



22 impact, if any, on ocean floor habitats and their associated fauna. 



23 The study took place in July of each of 5 consecutive years from 



24 1980 through 1984, a 5-year period. Most of you are somewhat familiar 



25 with this study, but just to kind of redescribe the generalities here, 



26 we used the Johnson Sea Link submersible calibrated for quantitative 



27 purposes with three quarter inch video and 35 mm externally mounted 



28 cameras for making north, south, east, and west 600-meter traverses from 



29 a site-specific station marker, which was a 37 kilohertz pinger. 



30 We also collected surficial sediment samples and animal samples of 



31 scallops, lobster, tilefish and jonah crab for a body burden, edible 



32 tissue, and organ analysis of trace metals, PCB's, PAH's and dioxins. 



33 The results of these studies have been published in a variety of 



34 outlets, scientific journals, and technical reports. I'm not going to 



10 



