All Female Mission Launches Aquarius Undersea Lab Research Season
Key Largo, FL -- Sports fans mark the arrival of spring with baseball's first pitch, but for many marine biologists the first signs of spring include the start of undersea missions aboard Aquarius, the nation's only "innerspace" station. Aquarius is an underwater ocean laboratory where scientists live and work on the seafloor using a special technique called saturation diving.
The Aquarius sealab - about the size of a school bus - is located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, where it rests 60 feet underwater and 3.5 miles offshore next to deep coral reefs. Owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), Aquarius is the only undersea research platform of its kind in the world.
The lab's season opener this year runs from April 15 to 24 and includes an all female science team led by State University of New York at Buffalo biologist Dr. Mary Alice Coffroth. Coffroth will be joined by her doctoral candidate Tonya Shearer, Leanne Rutten a master's student at Florida International University, and Dione Swanson, a doctoral candidate at the University of Miami. Saturating with the science team are UNCW station operators Jim Buckley and Russell Lounsbury.
During their 10 days beneath the sea, the scientists will measure the size and condition of corals. They will also collect tiny coral samples for DNA fingerprinting, which will help the scientists determine how coral populations grow and sustain themselves, providing important information useful to manage and preserve delicate coral reefs in Florida. After the mission, Shearer and Coffroth will spend months in their laboratory using state-of-the-art genetic techniques uncovering secrets of coral genetics and biology.
Other Aquarius missions scheduled for 2002 include three NASA-sponsored space simulation and training projects and science missions with researchers from California State University - Northridge; University of Queensland (Australia), University of California - Los Angeles; University of South Carolina; College of William and Mary; and NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program. Among the many subjects to be studied: coral bleaching; global climate change; coral recruitment; fish and marine protected areas; and studies looking into the effects of water motion and temperature on reef health.
Aquarius will also undertake several educational and outreach projects this year including a student writing contest (where the winning essayist will enjoy an underwater tour of Aquarius); a visit by the Girl Scouts of America; and many interactive video links with science centers, aquariums and museums throughout the country. Throughout each Aquarius mission, expedition journals, photos, and live undersea webcam views of the lab and surrounding area along with detailed program information will be available on the Aquarius web site at: http://www.uncwil.edu/nurc/aquarius.
For more information contact:
Dr. Steven Miller, NURC/UNCW, center director: [email protected], 305-451-0233
Mark Ward, NURC public affairs: [email protected], 407-254-0840
Mimi Cunningham, UNCW university relations: [email protected],910/962-3171
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