The
NOAA Ship PISCES
will host scientists from Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary,
NOAA Fisheries Service,
Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, the
University of Alabama, and the
College of Charleston
on a seven-day cruise to explore deep-sea corals. The cruise begins on April 8 and continues through April 14. Students and teachers and the
general public are invited to follow the cruise through daily logs that will be posted
to this site
. Questions may be submitted to the scientists who will answer them nightly and post them the next day to this website. You can also follow the
scientists along their journey using the interactive map below (Google Earth Browser plug-in required). Click on the red balloon to see a
recent photo from the cruise.
The cruise will investigate deepwater rocky reefs and
associated sponges and corals off the coast of Georgia. These corals build up
complex high-relief mounds in deep water (350-900 m) and consist of living,
dead and fossil corals and coral rubble that provide important habitat and
feeding grounds for a diversity of marine life including wreckfish, golden crab
and royal red shrimp. Fishing gear used to catch wreckfish and trap the crabs
and shrimp impacts the bottom and likely damages these fragile corals. This
study will help researchers better determine the ages and growth rates of
corals and better understand the reef structures that they build and their
rates of recovery if damaged. Mapping of the bottom and coral distribution with
sonar and ROV will help managers determine where fishing can be conducted with
minimum impact on corals.
Return to the NOAA Ship PISCES Deep-Sea Coral Cruise main page