SEA 



SCIENCE 



Exploring the 

 Ocean Blue 



By Katie Mosher 



T 



ie Steeples area. The Lophelia Reefs. 

 Can't place these exotic locations off the Carolina coast? Just ask 

 countless teachers and students who followed the "Islands in the Stream 

 2002" research expedition through online logs. 



The daily journals often reflect the excitement of twice-daily submers- 

 ible dives. But there's much more to these missions that are sponsored by the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Exploration 

 program. 



"We work the whole water column," says Steve W. Ross of the N.C. 

 National Estuarine Research Reserve, leader of the team that designed the 

 second leg of the three-part voyage. "The sub is just one piece of gear we use 

 — and it is more vulnerable to weather," he adds with a knowing nod. 



When the weather cooperates, the sub provides spectacular views of 

 deep-water habitats, as it can drop to 3,000 feet below the surface. But to find 

 The Steeples off North Carolina's southern coast, the sub had to dive less 

 than 400 feet, four times deeper than most scuba divers venture. 



The Steeples area includes large, irregular boulders and ledges — pieces 

 of the continental shelf broken off by erosion and geological events and scattered 

 by storm currents, the scientists explain. The warm Gulf Stream current 

 transports fish larvae and encourages a dominance of tropical reef fishes. 



During an expedition in 2001, researchers reported sightings of several 

 fishes that were previously not found north of Florida, several fishes new to 

 the United States, and many species thought to be rare — thus prompting the 

 return visit. 



"This dive added another up-close and personal look at this fauna, and 

 new information on the overall community that supports an important food 

 fishery," says Ken Sulak of the U.S. Geological Survey. 



In the 2002 voyage, the scientists also revealed secrets of the Lophelia 

 Reefs, located in much deeper waters, about 80 nautical miles south of the 

 team's study sites at an area off Cape Hatteras known as "The Point." 



"These are not the familiar colorful corals of shallow reefs, but are very 

 slow-growing stony corals adapted to life in dark, cold waters. They lack the 

 light-dependent symbiotic algae that impart color to reef-building corals in 

 tropical seas," explain Sulak and Ross. 



While they are delicate, the corals can live 1,000 years or more. 'Together, 

 the ridges and reef mounds, which may rise as much as 150 meters from the 

 surrounding substrate, act to accelerate bottom currents — a condition favorable to 

 species that filter-feed on current-borne plankton," the scientists add. 



C o n I i n ii e d 



CENTER: Alan Felker, riglit, 

 was an "educator at sea" 

 on the Islands in the Stream 

 2002 expedition. To learn 

 more about specimens collected 

 during the voyage — including 

 a Porpida, top left, and unusual 

 coral found at tlw Lophelia 

 reefs, bottom left — go to 

 www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov 

 aiul link to the expedition. 



Center photo by Ken Blevint/VtOm 

 Border photso courtesy of NOAA 



26 SPRING 2003 



