On May 31, 2011, the
NOAA Ship PISCES
will depart from Jacksonville, FL to explore deep-sea coral banks that dwarf the shallow reefs off the Florida Keys,
and that are now part of the largest deep-water coral protected area off the coast of the continental U.S., encompassing 23,000
square miles of continental shelf (about the size of the state of West Virginia). Like shallow reefs, deep-coral beds and mounds are
oases for biodiversity and productivity.
NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program,
through its
Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program,
is sponsoring the research expedition named
‘Extreme Corals 2011’
. The mission is part of a three-year
regional effort off the southeast coast of FL led by a five member team of NOAA scientists from around the country. Andrew David from the
NOAA Fisheries' Panama City Laboratory
will be the Chief Scientist on this mission. This is the first cruise of the 2011 field season, an undertaking aimed to better understand the
location, distribution, status and health of deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems in order to inform conservation and management actions. The expedition will
use
NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center's
high-definition, high-voltage remotely operated vehicle (ROV), named 'Arc',
to explore the deep-water coral habitats.
The research team will consist of a multidisciplinary group of scientists from
NOAA Fisheries' Panama City Laboratory, the
Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology (CIOERT)
,
Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI)
,
NOAA's Center for Coastal Ocean Studies,
NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center,
Florida State University
,
and the
University of Louisiana Lafayette
.
The map below will track the location of the NOAA Ship PISCES as it travels from Jacksonville to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, stopping to survey
deep-water corals and fishes along they way. Check back daily to see where these scientists are working, and a recent photograph of that day's
activities.
Return to the Extreme Corals 2011 main page