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Fall 1998 |
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Page 2 |
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Inside |
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National Ocean Conference |
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Sustainable Seas Expeditions |
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A five-year project to explore, document, and provide critical scientific data on our twelve National Marine Sanctuaries is scheduled to begin in Monterey next year. The "Sustainable Seas Expeditions" project, which will use new technologies to pioneer deep-sea exploration, is funded through a $5 million grant from the San Francisco-based Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund and $775,000 and in-kind contributions from the National Geographic Society's Exploration Council. The project's goals include exploring the nation's Sanctuaries, creating awareness about the inextricable link between human health and ocean health, inspiring an ocean ethic, and assisting with the development of a national system for long-term monitoring. |
A
historic summit on the state of the nation's oceans, the
National Ocean Conference, took place in Monterey on June
11th and 12th, bringing unprecedented attention to the
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the Monterey
area. It was the first national conference on ocean issues
since the Stratton Commission in 1967, which led to the
creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). It is hoped that the two-day event,
which focused the intellectual and policy-making power of
the government on marine issues, will lead to a long-lasting
and significant change in how the United States and other
countries address ocean issues.
The Conference was attended by the President and First Lady, the Vice-President, four Cabinet secretaries, more than a dozen admirals, elected officials, agency heads, and hundreds of top scientists, ocean industrialists, and conserv-ationists. "Our abiding links to the world, to nature, and the oceans have led us to this historic conference," President Clinton said during his closing conference speech at San Carlos Park. "...but we have to leave with a renewed determination to maintain the living, thriving seas ... not only for Americans, but for the whole world."
President Clinton and Vice-President Gore presented a package of ocean funding and legislative requests highlighted by $36 million for ocean research, $194 million to help build sustainable fisheries (including funds for three new NOAA research vessels), $6 million to strengthen protection of America's coral reefs, and a ten-year extension in the moratorium on leasing offshore oil tracts. Although some scientists and ocean advocates called for greater research funding and stronger environmental regulation, the conference overall was seen as an enormous success, both politically and in focusing attention on vital marine issues. The President, Vice President, and other VIPs left the conference with an awareness of the Sanctuary and the vital role it plays in ocean conservation and research.
While in Monterey, Vice-President Gore toured the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's research vessel The Western Flyer, piloted the vessel's remotely-operated vehicle as part of a display on advanced ocean exploration technology, and took a kayak trip with Sanctuary staff member, John Robinson. Gore also joined President Clinton in a tour of the tide pools at Hopkins Marine Station.
"The attention focused on the Sanctuary program and all ocean issues at this event can do nothing but good for the advancement of marine research, conservation, and education," says MBNMS Superintendent Bill Douros. "We've already seen some tangible benefits in the form of additional funding for ocean issues, which we hope increases even more in the near future. But the improved awareness and visibility of marine topics, on which you can't put a price, is equally important," he points out. "In all these different aspects, the conference was a great success."
"The attention focused on the Sanctuary program and all
ocean issues at this event can do nothing but good for the
advancement of marine research, conservation, and
education," says MBNMS Superintendent Bill Douros.
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Submersibles are a valuable research tool because they allow scientists to observe and experience intimately the deep sea for long periods of time. These types of underwater vehicle are already used regularly within the MBNMS for projects ranging from Monterey Submarine Canyon explorations to fish habitat studies. The Sustainable Seas Expeditions will complement research already underway here. The DeepWorker will be used in conjunction with local research vessels from MBARI, California Department of Fish and Game, and NOAA. "It's time we put as much energy into studying the ocean as we do outer space," says Andrew DeVogelaere, MBNMS Research Coordinator and Senior Scientist. "With our local expertise and a growing number of collaborators from around the nation, this is an exciting start." Projects currently under consideration in the Monterey Bay Sanctuary include furthering studies of giant rockfishes in harvest refugia areas, placing scientists at 2,000 feet to explore the Monterey Submarine Canyon, and tracking the Herculean migrations of plankton and krill as they swim up and dive down thousands of feet in each day/night cycle. Beginning in April 1999, the Sustainable Seas Expeditions will visit most of the Sanctuaries every year through 2002. "To begin serious systematic studies of the unknowns of our oceans, it seemed to make sense to focus on the Marine Sanctuaries - places already recognized as special yet still largely unexplored," says National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle, who is leading the expedition. "We simply don't know enough about the oceans, and yet they play a central part in the lives of every one of us," says John Fahey, President of the National Geographic Society. "The data we gather through the Sustainable Seas Expeditions will provide stronger foundations for marine research and for more sound marine conservation policies." |
Special
deep-water research techniques using new
submersibles will transmit observations made at sea
to a communication network linked to institutions
and classrooms across the country. The DeepWorker
will be used extensively throughout the
expeditions; it is an innovative one-person
submarine, with a clear acrylic dome over the
pilot's head and shoulders, which is propelled and
maneuvered by four powerful thrusters.
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