It took only a minute for scientists to discover a new deep-sea
species with an experimental infrared camera built in Southern
California and light-emitting artificial lure.
Now, the National Science Foundation has agreed to spend $500,000
to refine the concept developed by the Harbor Branch Oceanographic
Institute in Fort Pierce.
A large, 6-foot squid of a type never before photographed attacked
the bait, a bioluminescent electronic "jellyfish,'' about 60
seconds after it was turned on in August off the Louisiana coast
during Operation Deep Scope.
The Eye-in-the-Sea is a self-contained underwater camera system
able to observe animals and their behaviors unobtrusively. It
operates with red lights and an image intensifier that works
something like night-vision goggles.
See squid video
Credit: NOAA
The Eye-in-the-Sea video system, which can sit on the ocean bottom
for up to 24 hours, and the lure were used for the first time
during the 10-day, $210,000 Deep Scope expedition into the Gulf of
Mexico that set off from Panama City in the Florida
Panhandle.
"This was phenomenal proof of concept,'' expedition co-leader Edith
Widder said Monday. "In fact, it apparently has proven the concept
because now I finally have funding from the National Science
Foundation that is going to allow me to do this in a more advanced
manner.''
Widder, a senior scientist at Harbor Branch, said the two-year
grant will be used to develop Eye-in-the-Sea so it can be connected
to a mooring 3,000 feet deep in California's Monterey Bay.
The mooring would provide electrical power, eliminating the need
for batteries, and allow the camera to send a continuous stream of
video ashore for months at a time.
The original camera was built as a student project at Harvey Mudd
College in Claremont, Calif., for $35,000 and the Monterey Bay
Aquarium Research Institute paid for the batteries.
"I got some money from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration to put it in a bottle and to build a tripod for
it,'' Widder said. "It's kind of been a stone soup, put together
with little bits and pieces of money.''
NOAA also funded the Deep Scope expedition. Another one is planned
for this summer in the gulf to again photograph and perhaps capture
the mystery squid and other rare or newly discovered species.
Scientists think Eye-in-the Sea may be a better tool for such
missions than noisy and obtrusive mini-submarines or remote
underwater vehicles that scare many creatures away. The camera also
uses red light scientists believe is invisible to sea
animals.
The identity of the mystery squid, bigger than calamari but smaller
than the fabled giant squid, remains a puzzle.
Cephalopod biologist Michael Vecchione of the National Museum of
Natural History in Washington, D.C., wrote in an e-mail to Widder
that he was unable to identify it after viewing the seven-second
video and consulting with other experts. It has body and tentacle
characteristics different from any known squids, Widder said.
"The thing to appreciate is something this large to be totally
unknown is phenomenal and just such an obvious indication of how
little we understand about what's in our oceans,'' she said.
The electronic jellyfish is another new touch. It mimics light
given off by natural bioluminescent jellyfish when they are being
attacked, a characteristic scientists call a "burglar alarm''
similar to fear screams in birds or monkeys.
"That scream occurs when an animal is caught in the clutches of a
predator,'' Widder said. "Your only hope for escape may be to
attract something bigger and nastier. It may come and attack what's
attacking you.''
http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/ap_050302_squid_vid.html
