After successfully writing a grant proposal for the NOAA Sea Grant & The Aquatic Invasive Species Program, Susan Sember and Dr. Bud Cross, in collaboration with NOAA research biologist Paula Whitfield, see the lionfish educational and outreach objectives begin to materialize today in a dynamic and wide-reaching way. Months of research and communication with the NOAA scientists, as well as with the medical, SCUBA, fishing, aquarium and the coastal target communities, lead now to the production of our high definition products. In addition, the opportunity to be a part of the R/V Nancy Foster lionfish research cruise provides an unmatched platform for this vitally important invasive species subject matter.
The morning begins with a very informative on-camera interview with Morehead City physician, Dr. Jeff Anderson. Dr. Anderson, intimately involved with the SCUBA community, discusses the potential health hazards of the invasive lionfish and the recommended treatment for envenomation (lionfish stings).
Lionfish stings are excruciatingly painful and are a new marine-related injury, previously not encountered by Atlantic coast physicians and first responders. As such, the footage from Dr. Anderson’s interview is a valuable resource for the medical communities, as well as those in the SCUBA, fishing and coastal communities.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
Topside research scientist James Morris' excitement is palpable. An earlier lionfish retrieval hadn't yielded what he was looking for: eggs and sperm to fertilize, to incubate lionfish larvae. But now Christine Addison, scientist and diver, proudly hands him a lionfish plump with eggs. She's just brought it up from a 120-foot dive on the reefs off North Carolina where beneath the endless blue waves and rich Gulf Stream waters, is a hidden Garden of Eden of the sea.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
Life aboard a ship at sea is dictated by unfamiliar parameters.
There are strictly adhered to boat deployments and dive times. Emails come and go twice a day. There's a dress code (no flip flops; no tank tops in the mess hall). And the most precisely planned and regimented things are meal times, by which everything else is planned. They are chiseled in stone.
With all of this under our belts, we tackle Day 2.
Curtis films the early morning (0630) plankton tow: a search for lionfish larvae, while Norb readies for the first dive of the morning (0730) - a survey of lionfish on one of the earlier identified research sites - along with a side by side comparison of HD (high definition) vs. SD (standard definition) footage; or as he puts it "jumping off a two-story building with 600 pounds of equipment."
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
Chief Scientist Paula Whitfield popped up from the RIB (the accompanying dive boat to the R/V Nancy Foster) onto the deck of R/V NANCY FOSTER beaming. ‘We hit the mother lode,’ she announced, in her eternally effervescent way.
A record 16 lionfish had been surveyed in the transect – a 10m X 50m swathe of rocky ocean bottom.
But it was bittersweet news. High numbers were good for the scientists’ research, but bad for the environment. Invasive lionfish have a powerful toehold in their new habitat.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
Day 4 is dawning and the residents of R/V NANCY FOSTER are already scurrying about. Scientists up for the plankton tow (looking for lionfish larvae) search for the sun too, as it allegedly rises at 0617.
A buoy drop is next on the agenda.
In this part of the Atlantic lionfish reside on the coral reefs, rocky ledges, shipwrecks and other man-made artifacts along the Gulf Stream. Buoy drops are crucial; as Chief Scientist Paula Whitfield attempts to place the marks at the exact spot where prior research has taken place - so the team can compare ‘apples to apples’.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
“It’s not all about the divers,” Christine Addison explained as she leapt back aboard the R/V NANCY FOSTER.
It was an interesting statement from Christine, who had just surfaced from a half-hour lionfish survey in 120 feet of water (plus an equal amount of time in decompression). As much as we had been eager to hear her lionfish reports, she had made an interesting point.
Without the dive operations team facilitating with equipment and logistics, and ensuring the safety of the scientists; and without a well-oiled machine like the R/V NANCY FOSTER to carry them 60-miles offshore to the research site; the divers would be like ‘fish out of water’. It would be impossible for them to embark on the kind of extreme diving expeditions necessary to perform the critical survey and collection missions they were undertaking four times each day.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
Underwater cinematographer Norbert Wu joined the lionfish collection team on two dives today in the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”
At the first, a shipwreck in 18 fathoms (108 ft) of water, Norb reported, “There was a severe thermocline at about 100 feet. Below this, the water was very cold, green, and full of marine snow.” A thermocline is a temperature transition zone between warmer surface water and colder deep water.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
“Excellent weather. Flat, calm seas.”
Weather conditions are critical to the team aboard R/V NANCY FOSTER on the lionfish ‘safari’. Calm seas mean ease in maneuvering the massive research vessel to the exact marker location; straightforward deployment of tenders and divers; safe retrieval of divers and equipment – including cinematographer Norbert Wu’s 80-lb enclosed HD camera and lights.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
Final days, final dives…
Day Eight‘s dive was right on the money. Cinematographer Norbert Wu filmed Chief Scientist Paula Whitfield as she discovered the temperature sensor from last year’s survey, right next to the anchor line.
“I retrieved a temperature sensor from a site that is one of the farthest from land, and the temperature did not go below 60F all winter long,” Paula noted. “This is definitely warm enough for year-round survival of lionfish and other tropical species.”
Scientists have wondered whether the summertime expansion of the lionfish range can be maintained during the cold winter months. Apparently in some spots, along the warm Gulf Stream currents, they can – even at depths of 145 feet.
Mission Logs from NOAA research vessel R/V Nancy Foster in its expedition from July 27 to August 4, 2006.
Betsy Crowfoot, EISF's journalist, participated in this exciting voyage to investigate the Indio-Pacific red lionfish invasion into U.S. Atlantic coastal areas. Betsy posted Blogs "live" daily to inform us about her at-sea experience and new scientific discoveries from this mission's research.
It’s the final day of the lionfish research cruise.
The last dive starts early in the morning in darkness, making it difficult to find last year's survey site. The scientists and our underwater cinematographer, Norb, discover, however, a new site that has, according to Norb, “a ton of lionfish.” Norb captures some engaging shots of the lionfish hunting in groups of three and four. The team’s persistence…and patience has paid off.
“Patience is one of the best attributes a wildlife or underwater cinematographer can have,” says Susan Sember, EISF President. “Cinematographers wait for the right light; they wait for the selected species to appear; they wait for the desired animal behavior to occur; they wait for inclimate weather to pass; they wait for the hours to pass when they can make their next dive; and they wait for the often delayed planes and lost baggage to show up.”
