After working overtime performing ocean engineering on Navy projects for the last few months, I was so ready for a break. Timing was ripe when Susan Sember, EISF President, called me up and offered tasking to work on an high definition documentary production covering oceanographers researching the red tide, along with another HD documentary production later in the week, on critical sea grass studies. I jumped at the chance to travel back to Florida; it had been years since I took a boat cruise along tropical shorelines or been immersed in the warm Gulf waters.
On Sunday July 20th, the EISF production crew assembled in Saint Petersburg, flying in from all over America, several of us traveling out from California. Our meeting covered the upcoming week’s assignments, with challenging logistics to cover research cruises and concurrently conduct interviews at various research facilities. My tasking was to perform as field production support and capture “Behind-the-Scenes” media, and then generate some Blog dispatches.
As I came to discover, “Guardians of the Gulf” was a most appropriate title for this documentary since the scientists and engineers that we interviewed expressed such a genuine passion to unlock secrets behind recent threats to the Gulf’s vital marine ecosystem.
Bud Cross, EISF Science Advisor, met us Monday morning to brief the crew on what to expect during the day’s events. Six of us were scheduled to cover a Mote Marine Laboratory cruise on the research vessel R/V Eugenie Clark. Dr. Gary Kirkpatrick was deploying a BreveBuster module on an autonomous unmanned vehicle glider platform called SLOCUM. Also joining the cruise were research engineers and scientists from University of South Florida (USF) - College of Marine Science (CMS) and the Center for Ocean Technology (COT). They would be demonstrating the capabilities of a microbial genosensor that was developed through the research of USF/CMS faculty member, Dr. John Paul.
The EISF production crew quickly prepared equipment for underwater filming after a short transit out to just offshore of Sarasota. Our underwater cameramen strapped on SCUBA tanks and dove off the stern with a Sony F-900 packaged in an Amphibico underwater housing. The topside crew covered Mote Lab personnel launching SLOCUM. EISF divers then filmed the glider as it dove and surfaced several times before it went off on its programmed survey route.
Next up Brian Gregson and Bob Ulrich from USF assembled the Autonomous Microbial Genosensor (AMG) for deployment, while explaining this complex system to an EISF camera. USF team member, Jim Wilson, was also there to assist. The AMG is an oceanographic instrument that free floats in the ocean collecting water samples to analyze and determine if the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, is present. AMG performs K. brevis cell recognition by filtering sea water, mixing with solution to extract RNA, partially purifying and then utilizes fluorescence detection using molecular beacons. Data is then transmitted at intervals to shore-based monitoring stations. Brian and Bob then reenacted receiving AMG data on a computer, presenting a chart showing Karenia brevis detection.
EISF interviewed Dr. Kirkpatrick who explained the Mote Marine Lab program for real-time monitoring of the ocean off Sarasota in order to provide red tide early detection, quantifying the extent of harmful algal bloom coverage and movement. The SLOCUM glider performs extensive surveys autonomously much more cost effectively than done previously with research boats collecting data. Mote’s BreveBuster sensor can also work continuously 24/7, where operators on shore can reprogram the survey route remotely via satellite transmission.
Before leaving Mote Marine Lab, the EISF crew visited the Sarasota Operations - Coastal Ocean Observation Laboratories (SO-COOL). From this state-of-the-art control room, an audience can view the red tide monitoring efforts, with data graphically displayed in color codes geospatially for easier comprehension of red tide tracking. Barb Kirkpatrick explained the shore detection efforts, where beach lifeguards have been outfitted with Blackberry devices to report current conditions. This information is available online at www.mote.org/beaches.
Our entire EISF crew was impressed with the extent of research being conducted on Florida's red tide. Not only are researchers utilizing a variety of high technology oceanographic instruments to unlock the secrets of harmful algal blooms, they are also developing computer models for predictive analysis similar to hurricane tracking methods. The mutual respect between these scientists was evident in their interactions. We witnessed a good example of their collaborative efforts when listening to discussions of using Mote’s SLOCUM/BreveBuster to search out K. brevis blooms, then relay locations for USF/CMS to strategically deploy their AMG monitoring units.