RAPID: Seamount research with Eye-in-the-Sea

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The PI was recently been invited, along with Sylvia Earle, Rick Starr, Bruce Robison, and Jorge Cortes (from Costa Rica) to participate in a National Geographic sponsored research cruise to explore a largely unstudied seamount area 30 miles south of the Cocos Islands, Costa Rica (Pacific side). The goal is to collect scientific data in support of a proposal by the conservation community in Costa Rica to make this area into a marine reserve. The PI would like to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to use a new low-cost version of the Eye-in-the-Sea (EITS).Many deep sea submersibles like the one being used on this expedition do not have adequate payloads to accommodate the full EITS system, this has limited its general utility. Recently, with funding from Australian Research Council the engineers were able to design new low-cost, lander-version of the Eye-in-the-Sea. The PI has requested a RAPID award to construct one of these low-cost, lander-versions of the Eye-in-the-Sea to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Because seamounts harbor exceptional numbers of endemic species they represent an exciting frontier for the discovery of new species. No one has ever explored a seamount with an unobtrusive observatory like the Eye-in-the-Sea. This is an exceptional chance for new discovery as well as raising public awareness of the need to protect these precious and fragile biodiversity hotspots. Broader ImpactsThe primary goal of the expedition is to obtain scientific data and images to support a proposal to create a 1,900 km2 marine reserve on a seamount area 30 miles south of Cocos. To leverage the efforts of the conservation community in Costa Rica, will collect data on the abundance of fishes and invertebrates - that are threatened by fishing - living on the seamounts, with particular emphasis on fish aggregations. The PI will be blogging (in English and Spanish) from the ship as has been done for other National Geographic expeditions. In addition, a documentary for Costa Rican TV and hopefully also for National Geographic international channels is being planned. Further the three senior scientists on this expedition, Dr. Sylvia Earle (National Geographic Explorer in Residence), Dr. Bruce Robison (MBARI Senior Scientist) and Dr. Widder have been extensively involved in public outreach, speak passionately on the need for ocean stewardship, and are called upon for numerous public speaking engagements where results from this expedition will undoubtedly be presented.