Despite having to evade hurricane Katrina, a team of scientists from Harbor Branch and other institutions is returning to port this Sunday with new tales from the deep after completing their second annual Deep Scope expedition. The group has discovered a mysterious visual capability in a deep-sea crab; captured new video of a large, recently discovered squid species; and took clear video of the world's first known fluorescent shark. The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funded the mission to sites around the Gulf of Mexico.

The expedition, which began Aug. 19, is taking place aboard Harbor Branch's Seward Johnson research vessel and the Johnson-Sea-Link I submersible, capable of diving to depths up to 3,000 feet. The mission's overall purpose is to use a variety of new technologies to gain a better view of deep-sea life, and to understand how that life itself views the deep sea.

The team has targeted hardbottom landscapes such as a coral mound about 200 miles west of Tampa and the Viosca Knoll, about 140 miles southeast of New Orleans. Though the team was able to conduct dives at both locations early on, hurricane Katrina forced them to run for Galveston, Tex., where they took shelter for 3 days before heading back out.

The ship's crew took special precautions as they cruised from Texas back to the Viosca Knoll to avoid hurricane debris. They encountered extensive garbage, but nothing that threatened the ship. They also saw signs of damage on oil rigs and heard reports from other ships that all rigs within a 50-mile-wide swath beneath the hurricane's path appeared to be thrashed beyond operable condition.

Amidst calm seas, submersible dives resumed today and will continue through Saturday, Sept. 3, offering ample opportunity for additional discoveries.

"Considering that a category 5 hurricane just went through this area, I'm surprised that we can be out here and diving again so soon," say
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Contact: Mark Schrope
schrope@hboi.edu
772-216-0390
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
1-Sep-2005

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