REEF and the SUSTAINABLE SEAS EXPEDITION

The Sustainable Seas Expeditions are a path breaking partnership between the National Geographic Society and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to explore the United States’ last frontier: the ocean. The five-year program has been investigating, conducting research in, and promoting the 13 U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries, which range in size from a tiny bay in far-off American Samoa to a 5,328-square-mile (13,800-square-kilometer) expanse of ocean off the California coast. Famed ocean scientist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle serves as the project’s director, and former National Marine Sanctuaries program director Francesca Cava oversees its day-to-day operations. Funding is provided by a five-million-dollar grant from the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund.

With the help of a revolutionary one-person submersible called DeepWorker, the expedition’s scientists have been documenting the plants and animals that inhabit the uncharted regions of the sanctuaries. REEF’s involvement in the SSE missions began with year one in 1999 and has continued each year with fish surveys and assessments taking place in numerous sanctuary sites.

Islands in the Stream

2001
Video Clip
This year’s missions, dubbed "Islands in the Stream", explored protected and non-protected coral reef and hard bottom communities -- the "islands" -- of Belize, Mexico and the United States, as well as the currents -- the "stream" -- that connects the different habitats. The Loop Current, its associated gyres, and the Gulf Stream connect underwater communities throughout the Gulf of Mexico, as well as those in the western Atlantic along the coast of Florida and Georgia. Beginning off the coast of Belize, the expedition team followed the clockwise "stream" along the eastern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula, into the Flower Garden Banks sanctuary off Texas, continued downward along the west coast of Florida, through the Florida Keys sanctuary, and will continue up the east coast of Florida, and conclude off North Carolina in the Monitor sanctuary.

REEF Director Laddie Akins took part during dives in two locations in Mexico and in the newly established Ecological Reserves in the Dry Tortugas. The focus of the dives were to explore the fish assemblages in these deeper areas of Mexico and to revisit sites from last year in the Tortugas Reserves. Lad’s first Mexico dive was on the southern end of Chinchorro Bank. Over 75 species of fish were documented including four potentially undescribed species. The second Mexico dive was on the southern end of Cozumel, at a site known to scuba divers as Maracaibo Reef. 44 species were documented in this area on a 5-hour dive to over 500 feet. Most notable in the Mexico dives were the unique soft corals at 500 feet and the lack of grouper at depth. 

The two dives in the Dry Tortugas provided high contrast to the Mexico dives. A 140’ dive on the northwestern edge of Sherwood Forest in the Tortugas North reserve found an abundance of species that were not present at all in the previous year. The change in species composition reflected mostly planktivores including yellowtail reeffish, sunshinefish, school bass and chalk bass. Other researchers conducting work in the area have expressed concern over nutrient laden upwellings over the last year. The presence of these abundant planktivores may well be a result of a change in current patterns and could lend stronger evidence to the theory. Numerous nets, lines and other shrimp trawling gear were also found draped over the corals on the short ledge. Heavy fishing pressure may well have been accountable for the low number of grouper species in the area.

The final dive in the Tortugas was a 5 hour 45 minute foray into the Millers Ledge area of the Tortugas South reserve. 32 species were documented, and the species closely reflected prior years data. Abundant roughtongue bass dominated the fauna and many large scamp congregated around the top of the ledge. Red Snapper and Greater Amberjack were also seen, though less frequently than in the previous year. The great abundance of grouper in this area strongly substantiates the establishment of the Tortugas Reserve.

Data from these dives and other SSE fish survey dives conducted by Dr. Steve Gittings in Belize and Emma Hickerson in the Flower Garden Banks and West Florida Shelf will soon posted on the REEF website in the deep purple offshore sections of the Geographic report. Data will be used in establishing current baselines of these areas as well as for comparison to data collected in future years. Online dispatches, live video and audio links, and chat rooms have enabled ocean enthusiasts to share in the aquanauts’ voyage of discovery. To follow activities of the Islands in the Stream SSE Missions, visit the new NOAA website, NOAA Ocean Explorer, at http://oceanexplorere.noaa.gov/.

2000
Year two of REEF’s work with the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, provided dive opportunities in the proposed reserve areas of the Dry Tortugas.  Fish surveys were conducted in both the Sherwood Forest and the Riley’s Hump areas, both now part of the Nation’s largest no-take reserves.  Data collected as part of the SSE mission will play a significant role in documenting effectiveness of these reserves in the deepwater regions beyond scuba depths.  In addition to the data collected in the Keys, the Hawaii SSE mission incorporated REEF materials into school group education programs.
click here to read Lad's complete mission log from his Sherwood Forest dive

1999
In its first year of exploration in 1999, REEF's Executive Director, Laddie Akins, participated in missions at three of the Sanctuary sites - Gray's Reef NMS, Florida Keys NMS, and the Flower Garden Banks NMS.  Laddie completed eight dives between 70' and 200', conducting deep-water fish surveys using a modified version of REEF's Roving Diver Technique.  This survey data will help characterize the different hard bottom sites.  Interesting observations and sightings included three mola mola (ocean sunfish) and a feeding aggregation of black sea bass at Gray's Reef, and the first look at a deep offshore site named Sapelo Scarp, where groupers were the dominant species. In the Florida Keys, species were documented in the Sherwood Forest area and in the newly developing third reef off Craysfort Reef in the Upper Keys. Longsnout butterflyfish, coronetfish, and a huge school of cottonwick grunts were unusual sightings on the deep reef. In the Flower Gardens, manta rays and sharks were common sightings, as were large numbers of grouper and gray snapper on the sloping drop at 170 feet.