TOP: Scientists shuttle to and from NASA ships that 

 serve as platforms for pan of the 10-day operation 

 at sea. BOTTOM: NASA divers prepare to deploy the 

 Passive Acoustic Monitoring System unit — one of 

 three that will listen to ocean floor activities for three 

 days and nights. 



Simple as it is, coral is the keystone of 

 complex ecosystems. 



Rock shrimp, a prime commercial target in 

 Florida, are attracted to the nooks and crannies 

 of coral reefs for food and shelter. During their 

 migratory journeys, pelagic fish, such as tuna, 

 feed on baitfish associated with reefs. The 

 Oculina Banks are a well-known breeding site 

 for many species of snapper and grouper. Less 

 migratory, these fishes stay closer to home, and 

 thus rely on the reef s baitfish for sustenance for 

 much of their long lives. 



Oculina Banks — with its branching coral 

 clusters and limestone shelves and ledges — 

 has provided critical habitat for marine life for 

 millennia. About 90 percent of the Oculina 

 varicosa has been damaged or destroyed during 

 the past two decades, Koenig's research shows. 



The mission will use a three-dimensional 

 map of the reserve bottom made using multi- 

 beam sonar during a 2002 cruise on the NASA 

 ship. The ROV dives will be used to "ground 

 truth" the map. Reed says. This will establish 

 important baseline scientific data that can be 

 used to track future changes in the Oculina 

 Banks ecosystem. 



H sense of urgency 



On board Libert}- Star, there is a sense of 

 urgency to get on with the mission. 



The research team is anxious to make up 

 for time lost returning to port to retrieve parts for 

 the ROV disabled during a first-day dive. 

 Repairs are completed just as the ship 

 approaches Oculina Banks. 



On the bridge, Shepard and Reed review 

 charts and pinpoint dive coordinates with Capt. 

 Bren Wade and First Mate Walt Adams — 

 members of the United Space Alliance crew 

 whose usual contract work with NASA involves 

 retrieving space-shuttle rockets at sea. 



For this operation, the crane operator 

 lowers the tethered ROV into the sea until it 

 hovers just above bottom. All the while, the 

 captain maneuvers the ship against the strong 

 current that flows at two to three knots, allowing 

 the ROV to "fly" along the bottom at one-half to 

 one knot. 



In all, 23 ROV dives are scheduled, 

 involving criss-cross sweeps over each site. 

 The list includes sites not seen for 25 years. 

 The ROV also will peer into unexplored areas 

 inside and outside the reserve. 



The launch begins. Shepard watches until 

 the ROV disappears into the waves, 

 then slips through the hatch to join Reed in 

 the control room. There, Lance Horn is at 

 the monitor, ready to "pilot" the ROV across 

 the site. 



Thrust engines roar. The monitor flickers 

 the first glimpse of the reef transmitted from the 

 ROV video camera. For the next tense hour, 

 Horn — in constant communication with the 

 bridge officers and the crane operator — 

 controls the depth, pitch and yaw of the robot; 

 points the video camera; and illuminates reef 

 features and marine life. 



Seated in front of the console, Reed and 

 Shepard are joined by Robert Brock, a fish 

 biologist from NOAA Fisheries headquarters in 

 Silver Spring, Md., and Stacey Harter, a fish 

 biologist from NOAA Fisheries in Panama City, 

 Fla. The team will identify, videotape and 

 photograph reef characteristics and fish 

 populations. 



Lights, camera, action 



It's an intense "I Spy" video game. A 

 feature comes in view, and one scientist calls out 

 a general term. Another adds to the description, 

 and so on. 



Occasionally, they spot a cluster of live 

 Oculina varicosa in areas where it had not been 

 recorded before. 



"Nice, John! We found more," Shepard 

 exclaims at one unexpected sighting. 



And so the ROV dives go, with peaks of 

 excitement at spotting an artificial reef ball with 

 intact, live coral and a couple of grouper 

 swimming in and out of the igloo-like structure. 



Spirits plummet at seeing clusters of half- 

 dead coral, wrapped with long-line. 



The coral, as fragile as china is no match 

 for the sweeping action of bottom-fishing 

 equipment — a reality brought home as the 

 camera reveals the bottom littered with broken 

 coral debris. Two decades ago, Reed recorded 

 healthy stands of Oculina varicosa in many of 

 the same areas. 



More disturbing, perhaps, is what they do 

 not see. They do not see formations of live 

 coral the size of Volkswagen Beetles that Reed 

 described in the mid-1970s. Nor do they see 

 large congregations of grouper, snapper, or 

 black drum, once in abundance on Oculina 

 Banks. 



Reed, who has logged countless dives 

 from a Harbor Branch submersible, remembers 

 a time when the area was thick with curious 

 fish. 



Once, a caliper he was using to measure 

 coral growth got the attention of a 300-pound 

 Warsaw grouper. The fish swam closer and 

 surprised Reed by snatching the caliper from 

 his hand. The monster quickly retreated, then 

 stopped to see if Reed was following. Reed 

 recovered the caliper and went back to work, 

 only to have the playful Warsaw grouper return 

 for another round of "take away." 



"He was like a giant Labrador retriever," 

 Reed recalls. 



Sadly, on this trip, ROV eyes do not spot 

 a single Warsaw grouper. 



n full agendo 



The mission is carefully orchestrated. 

 Each day, new people are shuttled out to the 

 MN Liberty Star to observe the scientific 

 mission for a day. The roster includes resource 

 managers, fish biologists, educators and 

 journalists. 



The mission is receiving positive regional 

 media exposure, just as Shepard hoped. 



He believes that education and outreach 

 should be integral components of research 



18 AUTUMN 2003 



