Aquarium part of team to explore offshore national monument – theday.com

July 20, 2024 3:46 pm Last Updated: July 20, 2024 8:00 pm

Peter Auster, senior research scientist at Mystic Aquarium, examines scuba cylinders in preparation for dives in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. (Photo courtesy of Mystic Aquarium)

Mystic Mystic Aquarium researchers were part of a team that set sail Friday for the nations first and only marine national monument off the continental United States.

This is part of our countrys investment in trying to understand how the world works and that will allow us to be better informed about how wild communities of animals interact together, Peter Auster, senior research scientist at the aquarium and professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, said Thursday.

The 10-day expedition to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument will explore local and migratory sea life and may provide insight on how a natural ecosystem functions with little human intervention.

Its a biodiversity hot spot and in a pretty small space, Auster said. You get a lot of bang for your buck.

He said the monument, approximately 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, spans an area roughly the size of Connecticut, just a fraction of a percent of American Atlantic waters.

He explained the underwater geography of the monument is home to a wide variety of sea life: from creatures in the deepest portions of the canyons, more than 14,000 feet below the surface, to those living on the underwater mountains, a comparatively shallow 300 feet down, as well as those nearer the surface.

The monument was designated as a marine protected area in 2015 and is the only entanglement-free zone for sea turtles and marine mammals along the entire Eastern Seaboard.

Commercial fishing ended in the protected area last year, and Auster explained that this research can provide a baseline to understand what impact man has on the oceans, which can inform conservation efforts.

Its a rare opportunity to study how marine communities of wildlife function and interact in the absence of humans, which is exactly what we are going out to do on this safari, he said.

The 11-member expedition, funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the monument in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will focus on five key areas of research.

The team will study the monuments apex predators, like sharks, tuna and billfish, remotely with baited underwater video cameras as well as up close by scuba diving.

Auster said there is speculation that tuna may be spawning in the area, so the team will also retrieve samples of fish larvae to see what types of fish are breeding there.

Additionally, the team will test deep-sea fish tracking equipment, study seabirds, collect and identify gelatinous animals, such as jellyfish and other similar creatures, and collect samples of free-floating DNA from a variety of depths to study the diversity of sea life that live in and pass through the waters of the monument.

Auster explained that as fish and other creatures move through the water, cells containing DNA slough off.

Depending on how long its floating around before it degrades, if you take a water sample, you can figure out who the players are that have been in that general region, he explained.

Katie Cubina, education and outreach consultant for the aquarium, said Thursday that a videographer will document what happens on the cruise for the use of educators, students and the public and to update the aquariums Ocean Refuge exhibit.

The big thing for the aquarium is not just to do the work, but to share the work, she said.

She also said the team would host a series of live Zoom events including one with youth participants from 10 underserved Connecticut communities. Members of the public can keep up to date with what the team is doing through daily videos and posts on the aquariums social media platforms.

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Aquarium part of team to explore offshore national monument - theday.com