Sanctuary
to Dive Into Biodiversity Project
6/8/00
contact:
Anne Smrcina, 781-545-8026, ext. 204
This Friday
a team of divers from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary,
in collaboration with local researchers, will launch a three-day exploration
of the diversity of marine life right off our coastline, from microscopic
zooplankton to giant endangered whales.
These
voyages form the ocean component of "Biodiversity Days," a
state-sponsored celebration of natural life on land and in the water
that runs from June 9-11. The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary,
a co-sponsor of the event, will be documenting the species that inhabit
the marine waters off the Commonwealth’s coast. The sanctuary is
an 842-square-mile stretch of ocean at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay
that has been designated as being of special national significance.
"In order
to protect the living resources of the sanctuary and develop appropriate
educational materials, we first have to know what’s out there,"
says Anne Smrcina, the sanctuary’s education coordinator. "Our
biodiversity dive trips are intended to heighten awareness among researchers
and the public alike on the kinds of species that inhabit our coastal
ocean."
On all
three "Biodiversity Days" (weather permitting), the dive team
will take still photos and video footage of the creatures they find,
as well as sample selective species. Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, the National
Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point,
and the National Marine Fisheries Service will be standing by to identify
the samples and images. Findings will be added to the list of organisms
being compiled at the Sanctuary and at the Massachusetts Executive Office
of Environmental Affairs.
On Friday
the 9th, United Sates Geological Survey scientists aboard the NOAA Research
Vessel FERREL will complete a week of sediment characterization studies
in and around the Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary using a variety of sampling
and imaging techniques.
Video
footage from the FERREL and the Sanctuary dive team’s vessel, the
HAWK, will be available to the media. Reporters are invited to join
an all-day research cruise aboard the HAWK; however, space is limited.
Please contact the sanctuary for more information.
Biodiversity
Days are just part of the ongoing research and education in the Stellwagen
Bank National Marine Sanctuary. A series of research cruises this summer
using the NOAA Ship FERREL and the RV CONNECTICUT will explore ocean
biodiversity to greater depths.
The Gerry
E. Studds/Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is one of 12 ocean
and coastal areas designated for its special national significance.
Headquarters for the sanctuary is in Scituate, Mass. The National Marine
Sanctuary Program is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration of the Department of Commerce through the National Ocean
Service.
