On Thursday July 24th, the marine forecast did not look good for being out on the water. A busy production schedule could not afford delays, so we decided to head to a nearby island shoreline across the inlet from our boat launch at Fort De Soto. Dr. Ernst Peebles, USF/CMS faculty teaching Biological Oceanography, came to demonstrate and discuss plankton collection. USF/CMS student James Locascio came along to assist.
We also filmed a fish survey performed by Kerry Flaherty and her crew from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI). The FWRI team started by setting up a purse seine net around a sea grass area in shallow water, then drawing it close before bringing onboard to record a count of the juvenile fish.
There was a serene calm before the approaching storm when birds on the island started sounding off … unfortunately it was at the same time we were conducting an interview with Flaherty. She had to start the same sentence multiple times because of the loud squawks, but Kerry took it in stride, gestured at the scenic tropical setting and smiled as she told us “This is my office”. Flaherty explained that performing surveys of juvenile fish in various natural nurseries around Florida enables FWRI to determine forecasts for future years’ sport fish abundance. The FWRI long term monitoring program has also provided insight into the effects that red tide has on fisheries.
As lighting started streaking through the dark cloud front looming towards us, we all realized there was very little time remaining to perform the plankton collection. Fortunately Dr. Ernst Peebles’ demonstration only took ten minutes to accomplish. Ernst‘s principle research focus has been on spatial-temporal interactions between coastal fishes and their prey, especially as they are affected by physical processes.
We barely made it back to shore and safely packed the expensive HD video camera into our van before the rain and high winds reached us. While driving back to St. Petersburg in a torrential downpour, we worried about how another EISF team member was doing offshore on a private dive charter. We heard later that he faired well, finding several secret spots after the storm that revealed amazing underwater life in the Gulf, capturing on film a variety of charismatic megafauna.
Another EISF crew spent the day at USF Knight Oceanographic Research Center conducting interviews with Dr. Bill Hogarth, USF/CMS Dean, along with faculty member Dr. Chaunmin Hu. Dr. Hogarth discussed the unique educational opportunities provided to students that attend USF/CMS. He then explained how CMS faculty was pioneering oceanographic research into topic areas such as red tide, ocean acidification, coral reef studies, fisheries' issues and more. To conduct this research, they employ state-of-the-art instrumentation with remote sensing capability. USF/CMS is also a committed partner and collaborator with other marine research organizations, including Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s FWRI and Mote Marine Laboratory.
Dr. Chaunmin Hu described the satellite-derived data and real time monitoring system utilized by the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing (IMaRS). Research activities focus on analysis of digital data obtained by satellite and airborne sensors, as well as development of applications of these data at local, regional, and global scales. The main objective is to provide a better understanding of the world oceans on a large spatial and temporal scale. One of the projects is red tide research.
Susan Sember demonstrated her producer expertise by quickly rearranging the schedule to perform indoor interviews during that rainy afternoon, switching them with outdoor productions that could be performed the next day. Luckily the USF/CMS staff was flexible enough to accommodate us.
My first assignment at USF/CMS was to interview Chad Lembke in the Bottomed Stationed Ocean Profiler (BSOP) lab. Chad explained how the Center for Ocean Technology supports CMS researchers by engineering sensor platforms with capabilities that meet unique requirements for deployment in the harsh marine environment. Many times they have to invent new systems to meet project needs.
The BSOP is a good example of this, where researchers needed a system that could dive to the seafloor as deep as 200 meters (656’), collect physical oceanography data, hover at specific depths, return to the surface to transmit the data, and then repeat the process autonomously for about 50 cycles over extended periods of time. This system had to be developed from scratch, since no commercial system existed. Once a prototype had undergone successful testing, they needed to produce multiple units for deploying in sufficient locations of the Gulf with the goal of scientists being able to generate comprehensive ocean circulation models.
Next we went to the Autonomous Microbial Genosensor (AMG) lab, meeting up with Dr. John Paul, Brian Gregston, Bob Ulrich, Jim Wilson, and David Fries. When they took the AMG system out of the pressure housing, our cameraman was quite impressed, exclaiming: “Wow- it looks like something a Hollywood prop-master would make for a science fiction film”. Bob Ulrich jokingly asked if they win the award for most complex sensor. The AMG is definitely a very complicated system, where we needed to film several different versions of Brian Gregston’s interview; one with the scientifically correct terminology and another in layman terms that a general audience may be able to understand. (See Dispatch 1 for explanation of AMG’s function)
The final interview that day was with Gino Gonzalez who presented the Shadowed Image Particle Profiling Evaluation Recorder (SIPPER). Gino explained he was developing the third generation system in a more compact form to fit on a relatively small tow sled platform. SIPPER3 utilizes a new high-speed camera that images ~1.5 million pixels per second to capture continuous images of everything that passes through a sampling tube.
The SIPPER allows scientists to view zooplankton in their ocean environment without physically capturing them. SIPPER can record images of zooplankton in their natural shape, without damaging these fragile organisms; unlike the traditional method of capture with a towed net that breaks them into pieces, losing their soft matter. This has enabled new discoveries of previously unrecorded organisms.
Submitted by Dan Powell, EISF Director of Marine Operations
