Science AMA Series: Hi Reddit! We’re scientists on a NOAA mission to
explore deep, unseen waters in the central Pacific. Ask Us Anything!
Abstract
Hi Reddit! We are Scott France (deep-sea biologist, University of
Louisiana at Lafayette), Del Bohnenstiehl (geophysicist, North Carolina
State University), Michael White (NOAA seafloor mapping expert), and
Kasey Cantwell (NOAA ocean explorer). We are joined by the Mission Team
on board NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to answer your questions about our
expedition to explore deep waters in the central Pacific- an area of the
world where the vast majority of deeper waters remain unseen by human
eyes. We are currently on the “Mountains in the Deep: Exploring the
Central Pacific Basin” expedition to explore deep waters within Pacific
Remote Islands Marine National Monument; around the Cook Islands Marine
Park; and the high seas. Throughout the expedition, we are using
remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to explore the seafloor and video
streams from the ROVs are being transmitted via satellite from ship to
shore. This means anyone with an Internet connection – including YOU!
– can tune in LIVE with scientists from around the world, sharing an
unprecedented glimpse of never-seen-before deep marine habitats. We
expect to encounter large, diverse coral and sponge communities; uncover
important deep-sea ecosystems; explore ancient seamounts; map the
seafloor; and learn more about the geologic history of the area.
Information collected during the expedition will support management
decisions, to appropriately use and protect what we know as well as what
we have yet to discover. We have all participated in numerous deep-ocean
exploration missions. We’re here from 2:00 pm ET to 4:00 pm ET to answer
your questions about the current expedition or ocean exploration in
general…AUA! You can follow us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/OceanExplorationResearch/, Instagram
@noaaoceanexploration, or Twitter @oceanexplorer, or visit our website
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov to stay up to date with all of our
deep-ocean exploration activities! Thanks for joining us today to talk
about ocean exploration! Unfortunately, we are out of time. Good news is
that you can continue to follow the Mountains in the Deep: Exploring the
Central Pacific Basin between now and May 19, 2017. While we aren’t
diving today (May 1), all things permitting, ROV dives are planned most
days until May 15, 2017, typically from about 8 am to 5 pm SST (3 pm to
12 am EDT). Expedition home page:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1705/welcome.html
LIVE video of our dives:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/media/exstream/exstream.html