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FLORIDA FRONTIERS Exploring Unknown Deep-Sea Biomedical Resources MISSION DISPATCH 5 • May 26, 2004 Dispatch by Mark Schrope - @Sea Photo-Journalist From where I sit typing, I am looking across just a few miles of deep blue and flat calm sea to the high-rises of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Yet even this close to such major ports, there is a team about 1,500 feet below me in the submersible exploring a region of deepwater coral reefs that has never before been seen. 
And it's not a matter of just seeing more of the same things in a different place. After diving for five days from Ft. Pierce to Jacksonville, the ship arrived here at an area known as the Miami Terrace. Found in depths from 600 to 1,500 feet and stretching from Boca Raton down to Key Largo, only two tiny slivers of the terrace have ever been seen--by geologists on expeditions in 1967 and 1969 and never since. But the limited records we have from that work say little about what life was found on this reef line built on the remains of ancient reefs dated to millions of years ago. As it turns out, what we have found is amazing and diverse, but distinct from the life found farther north, at least in terms of species and, hence, potential for biomedical discoveries. The habitats are also distinct as the northern reefs are formed on mounds of mud and coral rubble, while here we explore long stretches of rock outcroppings and ridges. To the joy of all aboard, the rock surfaces they have found have been absolutely covered with life. The sponges and corals we mainly seek are abundant with numerous species already collected and processed. Such abundance was far from guaranteed because all we had to go on were features on charts that looked like they would be rock. As Dr. Shirley Pomponi , Harbor Branch's acting managing director puts it, we didn't know what was going to be on those humps and bumps and hills and plains, we just knew there were humps and bumps and hills and plains. What we did find she has called "sponge heaven." 
Besides the stationary animals we're after, the terrace is also filled with mobile forms of life-- from thousands of crabs to hundreds of fish to a few shrimp. On the surface we were met midday by a pod of dolphins playing in front of the bow. And because we have been operating so close to shore, we got to share the experience with more than the usual crowd. On typical drug discovery expeditions the ship stays out for weeks at a time, often in remote areas, so it is difficult or impossible for anyone to join in for a day. But working so close to Ft. Lauderdale we were able to make it to shore Tuesday night to pick up a group of visitors before dawn on Wednesday for a day at sea, including reporters from the Miami Herald, The Sun-Sentinel, and NBC Channel 6 as well as a correspondent for National Public Radio, the chair of the state's Emerging Technologies Commission that chose the FAU Center of Excellence for funding, and a member of Governor Bush's staff. They were amazed at what we were finding so close to the state's dry land, and we were amazed and thankful that the one day we've ever been able to put together an event like this, the skies were clear, the wind was calm, and the seas were so flat we could have taken one of the small boats out to go skiing. Which, by the way, is much more preferable for all involved than bringing out a group of people that spends the day sick over the rail. The high-rise view was mentioned more than once by those aboard as a sign of just how little we know about the ocean. And the fact that there could be life-saving chemicals on these reefs is one of many lines of evidence that make it clear what a mistake that is. When ocean exploration is discussed, you 
often hear the estimate that 95% of the ocean remains unexplored. If you hear a number like that, you
may think that the planet is so big, the oceans so vast, that the number just means the remote areas and the big chunks in the middle haven't
been seen. The high-rises in front of us said otherwise.
In a way, I suppose, there is also a bit of comfort in seeing the high-rises, and not because of any fondness for the crowds and traffic they watch over, mind you. But as someone who has spent most of his life in Florida watching the place grow until its seams have split in places, especially places in South Florida, it feels good to know that there are still unseen places so close waiting to be explored. Of course, it can be a bit of trouble to get down 1,200 feet and may not be something I can do on a regular basis. So it doesn't completely assuage my discomfort with the rapid growth. Affordable waterfront property or the ability to drive down I-95 through these parts at a non-traffic-snarled pace might go further, but still, it's nice to know. Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biotechnology The Center of Excellence was created with $10 million in state funding in 2003. It is based at FAU and combines the expertise of Harbor Branch, Florida International University, Nova Southeastern University, the Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft. Pierce, and several private companies. The overall goal for the Center of Excellence is to promote the discovery, development, and commercialization in Florida of new medicines and other products. Center funding is intended as seed money to further expand Florida's emerging marine biotechnology industry over the next two years with the goal of attracting longer-term funding from federal and commercial sources. Besides funding one expedition per year, Center of Excellence money is being used to:
2) design and build a high-definition camera system that can be carried on an AUV to map new seafloor sites 3) to purchase equipment that will greatly enhance member institutions' ability to rapidly and accurately analyze the pharmaceutical potential of new chemical compounds.  |  |
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