Exploration of Pribilof Canyon Now Under Way, Revealing Rich Ecosystem, Corals

Deepwater corals, like this sea whip (Halipteris willemoesi) photographed on Sunday by Timo Marshall, thrive in the deep waters of Pribilof Canyon

Thanks to great weather, state-of-the-art equipment and a top-notch crew, it has been a productive weekend for the team aboard Esperanza which arrived on site at Pribilof Canyon Saturday morning (July 28) when David Guggenheim and Michelle Ridgway made the first tandem dive in two DeepWorker submarines into Pribilof canyon to a depth of just over 1,000 feet and began to document a fascinating diversity of life, including a variety of corals, anenomes, sponges and fish. On Sunday, the ship visited a second site in Pribilof Canyon where John Hocevar and Timo Marshall completed a successful tandem dive, documenting more corals and successfully collecting a number of specimens with DeepWorker’s manipulator arm for analysis by scientists around the world.

John Hocevar (Greenpeace Senior Oceans Specialist) pilots DeepWorker at 1,100 feet in Pribilof Canyon (Video still by Timo Marshall - 29 July 2007)

Already, the Greenpeace-led team has accumulated nearly 16 hours of bottom time (8 hours per sub), more than all of the previous research done in this region combined. The subs’ high-definition video cameras have already collected over 120 Gb of data. The subs are performing linear transects which will then be analyzed on the video. Twin lasers spaced 20 cm apart allow accurate analysis of the size of organisms encountered. Read more

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Esperanza Sets Sail from Dutch Harbor: Bering Sea Expedition Under Way

DeepWorker submarines aboard Esperanza as the ship heads north into the Bering Sea, leaving the Aleutians behind. (Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

The Expedition to the Bering Sea officially got under way as the M/V Esperanza departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Friday, July 27 at 4pm Alaska Daylight Time. The Esperanza will steam through the night — for roughly 15 hours — to its first destination, Pribolof Canyon near the Pribolof Islands in the Bering Sea. The first DeepWorker dives are scheduled for Saturday morning.

In June, an international team of researchers and conservation specialists recently completed a week of intensive training and preparations for this Greenpeace-led expedition to Alaska’s Bering sea. The Esperanza is carrying two manned submersibles, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and the research team to the Bering Sea for a three week survey of Zhemchug and Pribilof Canyons, specifically to map and document deepwater corals living at depths of more than 1,000 feet. Read more

About

1planet1ocean is a nonprofit organization, founded to explore, restore and sustain the oceans through strong international partnerships, offering solutions to the problems our oceans face.

The ocean once stood as a forbidding, impenetrable divide that held civilizations apart for centuries. With the advent of paddle, sail, then steam, the seas began to unite the world through exploration and trade. Today, we understand that the ocean doesn’t divide us – it unites us. Ocean currents forge critical ecological linkages across vast ocean stretches. International collaboration is essential to protect the waters that we share. The 21st century has opened with an unprecedented opportunity to make this the century of the ocean. In the United States, two separate commissions – the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission – offer a dire look at the state of U.S. marine ecosystems, but also a blueprint for their restoration and sustainability, and a once in a generation opportunity to create new laws and practices to ensure enduring protection. The momentum generated by these commission reports offers new opportunities for conservation, both domestically and internationally. There is a need to better engage the public, decision-makers and research institutions in this effort.

The name 1planet1ocean signifies the fact that the oceans no longer divide us, but indeed unite us, and a united effort — involving strong international collaboration — is needed to develop solutions that restore and sustain the world’s oceans. The name 1planet1ocean was inspired by the phrase “Un planeta, un oceano” [One planet, one ocean] written on the back of the official conference T-shirt of the 2003 MarCuba conference in Havana, Cuba.

Areas of Focus:

• Expeditionary research to identify and map important marine ecosystems, especially coral ecosystems, in order to inform strong conservation policies. Regions of interest include the Gulf of Mexico (with emphasis on Cuba’s northwest coast) and the Bering Sea.
• Sustainable aquaculture and the promotion of next-generation land-based recirculating aquaculture systems in order to reduce pressure on wild fish stocks and provide a sustainable alternative that supports local communities.
• Connecting people to the oceans through outreach, education, videography, photography and leading-edge Web technologies.

A young girl delights in her first experience sitting inside a submarine at “Dive into Ocean Careers 2006,” a project of Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Naples, Florida. DeepWorker mockup courtesy of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER)

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Meet the President

Photo by Shari Sant-Plummer

Dr. David E. Guggenheim is president of 1planet1ocean as well as a consultant in conservation policy and science based in Washington, DC, providing services to clients in the nonprofit sector, governmental agencies, and private industry, including leading research and conservation efforts in Cuba, implementing the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission in coastal states, and advancing next-generation sustainable aquaculture practices as an alternative to fishing’s ongoing depletion of wild fish stocks and disruption of ocean ecosystems. Previously, he was vice president for conservation policy at The Ocean Conservancy. In addition, he led cooperative research and conservation programs in Cuba, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Guggenheim draws from nearly 25 years of multidisciplinary experience in environmental research, policy analysis, advocacy and environmental education. Before joining The Ocean Conservancy, Guggenheim served as President & CEO of The Conservancy of Southwest Florida and co-chair of the Everglades Coalition. Prior to that he was an environmental consultant in Washington, DC where he conducted research on global warming. He directed an international team of researchers in a study of Siberian forests. For 10 years, Guggenheim was vice president of EcoAnalysis, Inc. in California, where he directed numerous environmental projects. He also served as President of the Friends of Channel Islands National Park. Guggenheim holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University in Virginia. He holds Masters degrees in Population/Aquatic Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and in Regional Science from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also received a Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies. Guggenheim is a member of the Advisory Council of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi where he also serves as Cuba Programs Manager.