WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.799 - Hello! And welcome to the virtual Get Into Your Sanctuary celebration. 2 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:08.240 Today, we'll take a trip to the Georgia coast to learn what Gray's Reef National 3 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:11.280 Marine Sanctuary has for its year-round visitors. 4 00:00:11.280 --> 00:00:14.960 My name is Ben Prueitt, I'm the Outreach and Social Media Coordinator at Gray's 5 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:18.480 Reef National Marine Sanctuary. Today, we will help you make the most out 6 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.680 of your trip to Gray's Reef. We'll start with an overview of the 7 00:00:21.680 --> 00:00:25.599 NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, take you out to Gray's Reef, 8 00:00:25.599 --> 00:00:29.439 and lastly talk technology. And specifically, what technologies marine 9 00:00:29.439 --> 00:00:31.760 scientists and fishermen use when they're visiting 10 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:35.440 Gray's Reef. If you have any questions throughout this interview we want to 11 00:00:35.440 --> 00:00:38.640 hear them. on the chat feature. Our sanctuary staff 12 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.040 will be keeping an eye out for your questions 13 00:00:41.040 --> 00:00:45.840 and comments throughout this interview. Don't be shy. Ask away. I'll be joined 14 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:49.120 shortly by our two panelists to talk about the technologies they use for 15 00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:51.680 research and fishing, but let's first start with our 16 00:00:51.680 --> 00:00:59.600 celebration of Get Into Your Sanctuary. Each year, Get Into Your Sanctuary 17 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:03.199 weekend encourages you to get out and enjoy the wonders of your oceans and 18 00:01:03.199 --> 00:01:06.720 lakes. Since not everyone is able to get out and explore this year, 19 00:01:06.720 --> 00:01:10.640 we're bringing the sanctuary to you. Each sanctuary does their Get Into Your 20 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:14.560 Sanctuary a little bit differently. At Gray's Reef, we encourage people to 21 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.840 explore the fishing, diving, or boating found at our 22 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:20.479 live-bottom reefs. 23 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:25.840 The National Marine Sanctuary System is a network of 14 National Marine 24 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.880 Sanctuaries and two Marine National Monuments. We 25 00:01:28.880 --> 00:01:33.680 encompass over six-hundred-thousand square miles of marine waters in the United States. 26 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.920 These sanctuaries span all the way from the northwest and the Pacific, 27 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.360 to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. 28 00:01:41.360 --> 00:01:44.399 I wish we had more time to talk about each of these incredible sites, 29 00:01:44.399 --> 00:01:50.079 but for now you'll have to visit sanctuaries.noaa.gov 30 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.000 As I mentioned, we'll be focusing today on the Gray's Reef National Marine 31 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.280 Sanctuary which was America's fourth National Marine Sanctuary 32 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.880 designated in 1981 to preserve the extraordinary 33 00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:04.079 beauty of the area and protect the habitat 34 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:08.800 of diverse marine life. Gray's Reef is located ninteen miles off the coast of 35 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:12.560 Georgia, directly east of Sapelo Island. That's 36 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:17.280 the equivalent of 50 miles south of Savannah. The total area of the 37 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:23.040 sanctuary is twenty-two square miles and the average depth at Gray's Reef is 38 00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:26.000 sixty-five feet. 39 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.640 Scientists have documented over two-hundred species of fish. 40 00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:34.080 Visitors to Gray's Reef regularly swim with Atlantic Spadefish, 41 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.680 Black Sea Bass, many species of Grouper and Snapper, 42 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:42.319 Seaweed Blenny, Sheepshead, and other colorful inhabitants. 43 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:47.599 Sharks are also commonly sighted and can be seen at all levels of the water 44 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:52.160 column. Nine-hundred species of invertebrates also live 45 00:02:52.160 --> 00:02:55.519 at Gray's Reef. Species like tunicates, commonly known as 46 00:02:55.519 --> 00:02:59.519 "sea squirts", corals, urchins, and many species of 47 00:02:59.519 --> 00:03:05.040 sponges make up the colorful life protected in the sanctuary. 48 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:08.080 The sanctuary is more than just the life found on the sea floor. 49 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:12.159 The waters and air above the bottom are studied and managed in various ways 50 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.400 to conserve the sanctuary for generations to come. The sanctuary plays 51 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.080 a role in supporting recreational fishing, diving 52 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:24.000 scientific research, and the protection of endangered species, like the North 53 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.239 Atlantic right whale and Loggerhead sea turtles. 54 00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:32.000 I'll now introduce my guests for today. The opinions presented 55 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.599 here are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the opinions 56 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:40.239 of NOAA or those of the speaker's organizations. 57 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:43.920 First, I'll bring up Kevin Hunnicutt. Kevin Hunnicutt is the owner of Latitude 58 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:47.440 31 Dive Company. Kevin is a U.S. Coast Guard licensed 59 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:51.360 Captain qualified to carry passengers up to two-hundred miles offshore, 60 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.640 an experienced diesel technician, avid diver, 61 00:03:54.640 --> 00:03:59.599 fisherman, and spearman. Kevin, welcome and thank you for joining us. 62 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:02.640 - Hey, thanks for having me. We're happy to be here and talk about some of the 63 00:04:02.640 --> 00:04:04.720 technologies we use to go out to Gray's Reef 64 00:04:04.720 --> 00:04:08.080 National Marine Sanctuary for fishing and SCUBA diving trips. 65 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:11.280 - Great! So what are some of the new technologies people 66 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:15.519 and fishermen are using out at Gray's Reef? - Yeah, so 67 00:04:15.519 --> 00:04:19.600 first off, we started the planning stages of our trips using technology 68 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:24.639 such as the data from the Gray's Reef weather buoy. 69 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:29.680 So in planning our trips, we use data from the Gray's Reef National Marine 70 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:36.160 Sanctuary weather buoy to take interpretations of sea state. So 71 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:40.880 based off of this data, we're able to make decisions based on 72 00:04:40.880 --> 00:04:44.160 the real-time data that the buoy is seeing on 73 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:48.080 wave height, wave period, wind speed, wind direction, 74 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:52.560 and that really helps us in the planning stages of being able to go out have a 75 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:58.080 safe trip to Gray's. And then beyond using data from the 76 00:04:58.080 --> 00:05:02.000 weather buoy, our next technology we use to get to Gray's and get on the correct 77 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:07.360 spots is G.P.S. data. So G.P.S. is a system of coordinates laid 78 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:12.320 out across the earth based on latitude and longitude lines 79 00:05:12.320 --> 00:05:17.199 and we use them in increments of degrees, minutes, and seconds. 80 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:20.720 And based on that coordinate system we're able to pinpoint locations at 81 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:26.320 Gray's Reef that we like to dive. So using G.P.S., we're able to go back 82 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:31.600 to the same spots that we see lots of life and dive those 83 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:36.240 spots with pinpoint accuracy down to the level a few feet. 84 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:40.160 So G.P.S. is a really strong tool that we use at Gray's 85 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:45.680 to to stay on the right spots and make our trips to enjoyable. 86 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.320 Once we've seen our data from the weather buoy we know it's safe to go 87 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:53.440 we've used our G.P.S. coordinates to get out offshore then we use 88 00:05:53.440 --> 00:05:57.039 our radar to be able to get real-time data on 89 00:05:57.039 --> 00:06:01.199 weather, other boats, where other boats are located on Gray's Reef 90 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:06.639 in relationship to where we are. The radar is a really awesome 91 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:11.840 technology that we use every day and rely on heavily. So 92 00:06:11.840 --> 00:06:18.000 radar is a tool that sends out a energy pulse that reflects off of 93 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:23.280 weather, clouds, rain, other boats, buoys, any reflective material out there, 94 00:06:23.280 --> 00:06:26.880 and sends a signal back to our radar receivers 95 00:06:26.880 --> 00:06:31.440 and helps us to to stay safe, to know where the other boats are, to be able to 96 00:06:31.440 --> 00:06:35.039 make decisions on which directions we want to go. 97 00:06:35.039 --> 00:06:39.680 And radar technology has continued to improve. 98 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:44.560 Now with even on some of the lower level devices we have 99 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.319 doppler technology which can track targets show us which 100 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.759 direction they're going. It really helps us to make it 101 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:56.800 a safe and enjoyable trip out to Gray's which we rely on heavily. 102 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:01.680 So with those technologies are what we use to get there, 103 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:06.960 and then once we're on site at Gray's Reef we rely on our sonar technology. 104 00:07:06.960 --> 00:07:11.680 Sonar works a lot like radar. It sends out an energy pulse, which reflects off 105 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:17.199 of the materials on the bottom, back to our receiver, and then our M.F.D. 106 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:22.319 interprets that data into bottom structure. So we use that data to see 107 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:26.800 whether we're over sand, or over Gray's Reef natural live-bottom, 108 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:30.080 and then we're also able to get good interpretations of fish 109 00:07:30.080 --> 00:07:34.800 life and where exactly we need to be on the reef to where we drop our marker 110 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:39.199 buoy for our SCUBA divers, or our fishing lines for our fishermen. 111 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.800 So sonar is a technology that we use and 112 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:46.720 really rely on heavily all the time every time we're there. 113 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:50.000 Without it, it would be very difficult to know 114 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.120 that we're on the correct spots and that our divers are going to have the best 115 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:56.240 chance of seeing sea life. 116 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:01.039 A.I.S. is another technology that we have built into our boats M.F.D. 117 00:08:01.039 --> 00:08:07.120 and V.H.F. systems. A.I.S. works off of signals from our V.H.F. radios. 118 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.199 Any A.I.S. vessel in our proximity 119 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:17.039 is received by our V.H.F. and then translated onto our M.F.D. to show 120 00:08:17.039 --> 00:08:22.560 a vessel's speed, heading, course, position. It also has data 121 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:28.400 on how big a boat is and then if a boat is heading in our direction it 122 00:08:28.400 --> 00:08:32.159 gives us data on how fast that boat's coming and how 123 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:37.039 long we have until that boat is has approached our location. 124 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:41.519 A.I.S. is another safety tool that we use on top of our radar to track targets 125 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:45.600 and make sure that our passengers and vessels stay safe. 126 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:51.440 While we're on Gray's, another fishing technology that is relatively new 127 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:56.080 and we really have got to using is fish descending devices. 128 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.279 These are a device that we use to greatly 129 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:05.040 improve a fish's survivability. When we pull a fish up from depth really fast 130 00:09:05.040 --> 00:09:08.880 it causes barotrauma within the fish and it really, 131 00:09:08.880 --> 00:09:12.720 really takes a toll on a fish and decreases their survivability if we 132 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:18.320 can't get them back down to a safe depth. So it's basically a device that is 133 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:21.519 spring-loaded, and clip it onto the fish with a weight 134 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:25.360 system, send the fish back down to the depths where we caught them at, 135 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:30.000 and it automatically releases allowing the fish to go back to its normal depth 136 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.399 and all the effects of barotrauma have been negated. 137 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:39.200 We've been using that a lot especially with our Red Snapper fishery. 138 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.279 Gray's Reef has a lot of Red Snapper on it and we'd like to go out, 139 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:46.480 see them, catch them, and we use this tool 140 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.240 to make sure the fish are there for our next line of SCUBA divers, for 141 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:53.200 fishermen to enjoy. And to make sure that we're not 142 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:56.880 accidentally killing fish that could have otherwise survived. 143 00:09:56.880 --> 00:09:59.920 And so fish descending devices are a really good tool that 144 00:09:59.920 --> 00:10:05.839 everybody should have and that we have started using ourselves at Latitude 31. 145 00:10:07.920 --> 00:10:12.959 - Well, Kevin that's a lot of technology that you guys put in order to make a safe trip and an 146 00:10:12.959 --> 00:10:15.000 enjoyable trip out to Gray's Reef. 147 00:10:15.839 --> 00:10:21.000 One question I had is what do you think is next in line for these sorts of technologies? 148 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:28.000 Any predictions about the future? - Yeah, so the technologies are so great that we're using right now 149 00:10:28.050 --> 00:10:31.000 it's almost hard for me to imagine new technologies 150 00:10:31.050 --> 00:10:33.000 because there's so much that we use on our boats now, 151 00:10:33.050 --> 00:10:35.519 especially if you have the latest and greatest electronics, 152 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:44.000 but my prediction is that the technologies that we currently have will continue getting better, cheaper, and more widely used 153 00:10:44.640 --> 00:10:46.200 on all the vessels that go offshore 154 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.040 and to visit Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary. 155 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:57.480 I think that these technologies will make everybody's lives much easier, safer, and enjoyable. 156 00:10:58.800 --> 00:11:00.640 - Well Kevin, thanks again for joining us 157 00:11:00.999 --> 00:11:04.000 and maybe you'll see some new fishers out there at Gray's Reef. 158 00:11:04.999 --> 00:11:08.880 You know we always enjoy partnering with folks like you 159 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:10.079 to make sure the people are out there 160 00:11:10.999 --> 00:11:12.680 and enjoying their sanctuaries as much as they can. 161 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:14.000 - That's right. Thanks so much for having me. 162 00:11:14.999 --> 00:11:18.480 We enjoy it. We love Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary 163 00:11:18.999 --> 00:11:20.000 and, yeah, we continue to rely on these 164 00:11:20.999 --> 00:11:22.000 technologies every day, day in and day out 165 00:11:22.999 --> 00:11:23.800 to take people out to enjoy it. 166 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.000 - Well great. Hang on for a second 167 00:11:26.900 --> 00:11:28.560 We'll say goodbye to everyone at the end 168 00:11:28.979 --> 00:11:32.000 but now I'll switch over to Catherine Edwards. 169 00:11:32.999 --> 00:11:36.240 So, as we're in transition. 170 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.040 So Catherine, good to see you. Welcome to the program! 171 00:11:41.040 --> 00:11:43.999 Catherine Edwards is an Associate Professor at the 172 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.000 University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. 173 00:11:46.999 --> 00:11:50.999 Catherine's research uses autonomous underwater robots and, 174 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.000 more specifically, ocean gliders to listen, map and monitor 175 00:11:54.999 --> 00:11:58.000 waters off the Eastern Seaboard, including those at Gray's Reef 176 00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.519 Catherine, welcome! 177 00:12:00.880 --> 00:12:04.200 - Thanks so much for having me. I'm glad to be able to talk about Gray's Reef. 178 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:05.000 We love spending time there. 179 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.990 - Great! What are some of the new technologies you've been using at 180 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:10.000 Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary? 181 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:16.000 - So, one of the systems that I use in my lab, you can see 182 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:21.560 three instances of them behind me, I use autonomous underwater vehicles called gliders 183 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:24.519 The one that's immediately behind me, her name is "Pelagia" 184 00:12:25.888 --> 00:12:30.000 and then "Franklin" is one of the gliders on the rack back behind me. 185 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.240 These gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles 186 00:12:34.330 --> 00:12:38.000 that use buoyancy and center of gravity to move. 187 00:12:38.555 --> 00:12:42.000 By changing their buoyancy and center of gravity they're able to fly 188 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:47.600 using a super energy efficient method of propulsion that lets us have 189 00:12:47.800 --> 00:12:52.560 these gliders flying at places like Gray's Reef for up to 190 00:12:52.770 --> 00:12:56.120 weeks or even months on a single charge or one set of batteries. 191 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.120 They come up to the surface at regular intervals 192 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.279 in the slide here you see the the tail fin 193 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:05.880 of the glider that has an Iridium phone 194 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:10.720 built into it and the pancake on top is the part that talks to Iridium 195 00:13:10.990 --> 00:13:14.320 satellites communicating data from the glider itself 196 00:13:14.660 --> 00:13:19.839 to operators on shore. The pilots on shore talk with the glider, 197 00:13:19.999 --> 00:13:27.000 find out what's its GPS coordinate, what is its current mission, and what is it doing 198 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:32.999 and then are able to command it using both commands that we give 199 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:36.560 hit by hand to the glider and then scripts that will say 200 00:13:36.990 --> 00:13:38.079 'OK, send us some of the data you've been collecting', 201 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.079 maybe we can change your waypoints or then 202 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.555 maybe we can adapt some of your sampling based on 203 00:13:45.839 --> 00:13:50.550 what we see. The gliders have a wide array of 204 00:13:50.990 --> 00:13:56.000 instruments on them. Back behind me you can see the C.T.D 205 00:13:56.990 --> 00:13:59.000 on this side of the glider - it's the silver tube 206 00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:05.333 that lets water come in one side of the tube and then it measures the 207 00:14:05.999 --> 00:14:09.990 conductivity and the temperature and the pressure that we use to 208 00:14:10.160 --> 00:14:15.000 calculate salinity, depth, and then the water density. 209 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:19.600 So as the glider is flying around it's taking measurements of temperature 210 00:14:19.990 --> 00:14:24.000 salinity and density every second which at a vertical speed 211 00:14:24.990 --> 00:14:28.000 of ten centimeters a second means that you're collecting 212 00:14:28.959 --> 00:14:33.440 you're collecting temperature, salinity, and density measurements 213 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:39.279 at ten centimeters resolution which is amazingly high resolution data and a 214 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.555 fantastic window into what's going on in the ocean 215 00:14:43.839 --> 00:14:47.000 the gliders also have other sensors that measure how much dissolved oxygen 216 00:14:47.839 --> 00:14:51.560 is in the water as well as a fluorometer that you can kind of see 217 00:14:51.990 --> 00:14:56.680 peeking out of the current image underneath the wing there. 218 00:14:57.680 --> 00:15:00.000 It's a round puck that shoots different wavelengths of light 219 00:15:00.550 --> 00:15:05.360 that are tuned to basically bounce off of and excite 220 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:11.000 emissions from from marine algae from the chlorophyll pigment 221 00:15:11.920 --> 00:15:14.160 that's incorporated into the cells. 222 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:19.000 - So, Catherine I'm going to play some videos and we have some slides 223 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:22.640 and if you wanted to explain some of the what's going on in 224 00:15:22.999 --> 00:15:25.000 the background for our viewers that would be really helpful. 225 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:32.000 - So, in addition to the C.T.D, the gliders measure other in water variables. 226 00:15:32.999 --> 00:15:36.440 So, just beneath the wing in the picture above 227 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:43.199 there's a little circular puck that has a three channel fluorometer in there. 228 00:15:43.999 --> 00:15:46.000 Basically, that shoots light at different wavelengths 229 00:15:46.959 --> 00:15:52.160 tuned to understand the concentration of phytoplankton, 230 00:15:52.160 --> 00:15:54.079 how much marine algae is in the water, 231 00:15:54.990 --> 00:15:57.759 how much color dissolved organic matter is in the water, 232 00:15:57.999 --> 00:16:00.600 and then turbidity, so how much stuff scatters light 233 00:16:00.800 --> 00:16:03.000 like air bubbles or sand or other particles. 234 00:16:03.920 --> 00:16:06.000 So now we'll have the glider deployment. 235 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.000 You'll see the technician and student here are just 236 00:16:09.839 --> 00:16:13.079 gently lifting the back of the glider and it just shoots off of its little 237 00:16:14.009 --> 00:16:18.000 cart into the water. This is a test deployment so we've 238 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:22.440 attached a little buoy that we use as backup 239 00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:26.600 because the gliders move by changing their buoyancy and center of gravity 240 00:16:26.900 --> 00:16:31.600 it's really important to tune the glider so that its weight 241 00:16:31.990 --> 00:16:34.440 and its distribution of weight is exactly perfect 242 00:16:34.990 --> 00:16:39.399 so it's a form of ballasting to what we think the target density will be in the water 243 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.000 if we've gotten it way wrong and the glider is a lot heavier 244 00:16:43.990 --> 00:16:46.000 than we think it will be it has no way of getting up to the 245 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:50.000 surface to communicate. So the first time we deploy it at each 246 00:16:50.160 --> 00:16:54.000 deployment we've got a little buoy at the surface just as a fail safe 247 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:55.000 in case we've messed up. 248 00:16:55.990 --> 00:16:59.000 Sure thing, one question I had is how does this research 249 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.000 and technology help inform decision making at Gray's Reef? 250 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:08.555 So, there's a lot of there's a lot of ways that gliders are helping to 251 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:10.360 inform decision making at Gray's Reef. 252 00:17:10.999 --> 00:17:15.480 There's some indirect uses of of the glider data. 253 00:17:15.999 --> 00:17:22.120 For example, the density data and the fluorometer data help us 254 00:17:22.550 --> 00:17:25.999 understand what happens at Gray's Reef when we're not sampling. 255 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:31.240 You know, the nice thing about gliders is they can be offshore even when 256 00:17:31.280 --> 00:17:35.400 Kevin Hunnicutt can't take the boat out and nobody can be diving. 257 00:17:35.770 --> 00:17:39.000 And so those are times that you wouldn't be able to have a window 258 00:17:39.840 --> 00:17:42.160 into the world there at Gray's Reef otherwise 259 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.360 and so it's really important to sample then. 260 00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:48.000 We can also, for example, a storm comes by 261 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:54.550 we can see what the response to a storm is and look at what happens when the 262 00:17:54.580 --> 00:17:58.880 water column gets mixed up, how do the phytoplankton, that base of the food web 263 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.000 at Gray's Reef, how does that change over time? 264 00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:07.120 Fairly recently, this past Spring [2020], we noticed there was a lot of fresh water at the surface 265 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.919 from an extended deployment with the gliders and it turned out we 266 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.777 looked at the records from river data and were able to tie the surface low 267 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.000 salinity lens to a flooding event in north Georgia. 268 00:18:21.555 --> 00:18:26.000 That ended up causing significant discharge out onto Gray's Reef through 269 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:31.999 the Altamaha [River]. So those those kinds of impacts that fresh river water 270 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:38.000 certainly carried with it a signature from the land including whatever else came 271 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:41.000 down that river and so with the glider we were able to 272 00:18:41.550 --> 00:18:45.000 get a better picture of what might be happening underneath 273 00:18:45.520 --> 00:18:48.000 that surface layer, how that might affect the ecology 274 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:53.000 and the goings on at Gray's Reef. One of the other neat tools we've been 275 00:18:53.360 --> 00:18:58.000 able to use recently, and you'll see it in this picture here on top, 276 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:05.000 those two black tubes are externally mounted receivers that listen for the sound 277 00:19:05.999 --> 00:19:12.000 of specifically tagged fish so fisheries managers at Gray's Reef and 278 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:16.000 other fisheries scientists all up and down the East Coast and 279 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:24.000 elsewhere can basically through a little fish surgery at sea, implant a 280 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.000 little tag that beeps at a given frequency 281 00:19:27.760 --> 00:19:31.888 at regular intervals and so as the fish swims around 282 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:36.480 receivers that are moored in different parts of Gray's Reef listen for those fish 283 00:19:36.990 --> 00:19:41.000 and Gray's Reef managers can track where the fish are, 284 00:19:41.360 --> 00:19:45.009 how those fish are using the reef. The cool thing is we can also mount these 285 00:19:45.899 --> 00:19:50.160 receivers on top of the glider so wherever the glider goes you get to hear 286 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:56.000 where fish might be instead of just relying on measurements that are taken from one 287 00:19:56.990 --> 00:19:59.000 stationary place that really relies that the fish has to come 288 00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:02.000 close to that receiver with the mobile 289 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.520 instruments on top of the glider we can listen wherever the glider is and go to 290 00:20:07.520 --> 00:20:11.679 where the fish are. So we've been able to integrate 291 00:20:11.679 --> 00:20:15.200 these receivers into the glider. Not only does this let 292 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:18.480 us have one instrument that's pointed up on top of 293 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:23.679 the glider and another pointed down that might help us see or hear fish that 294 00:20:23.679 --> 00:20:26.640 are reef dwelling species versus the 295 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.080 different species that spend more time here at the surface. 296 00:20:30.080 --> 00:20:33.760 But since it's on the glider as it flies around, 297 00:20:33.760 --> 00:20:38.559 we can tell when the glider detects a fish. 298 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.960 And that gives us an opportunity to potentially change the motion 299 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:48.240 of the glider to track a fish, to track a migration, 300 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:53.360 to change its strategy based on not just the environmental conditions, 301 00:20:53.360 --> 00:20:58.000 but whether or not we hear the sounds of Snapper, Grouper, and other fish that 302 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.000 might have been tagged at Gray's Reef or elsewhere. - So would 303 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:06.159 fisherman like Kevin, would he be able to get 304 00:21:06.159 --> 00:21:09.200 his hands on this technology to see exactly where the fish are? I'm sure he'd 305 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.400 love to have his job a lot easier than it is 306 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.760 now. - Yeah, follow that dinner bell, right? 307 00:21:15.760 --> 00:21:20.640 That would be wonderful. Because these 308 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.000 technologies are used for fisheries research, 309 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.200 the real time publication of what these 310 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:30.400 fish are, I think you don't want to have somebody go 311 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:35.919 catch the Snapper that somebody tagged in Gray's Reef a month ago. 312 00:21:35.919 --> 00:21:40.000 However, taking those data over time 313 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.640 and getting an understanding of when fish are more present and 314 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.480 what conditions they might be associated with, 315 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.559 so do you see Snapper at Gray's Reef when the freshwater lens 316 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.159 is above or not? Is that good fishing? 317 00:21:56.159 --> 00:21:59.360 These are things and patterns 318 00:21:59.360 --> 00:22:03.360 that we may be able to tie together with the glider with both 319 00:22:03.360 --> 00:22:08.320 the fisheries detection data and the environmental data from 320 00:22:08.320 --> 00:22:13.520 the CTD's and the fluorometers. That'll help Kevin and his charters 321 00:22:13.520 --> 00:22:18.320 identify "okay what's going on at Gray's Reef?", not just when's the best wind to go 322 00:22:18.320 --> 00:22:21.200 out, or what's the best temperature section 323 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.919 to do, but 'what's happening underneath the surface 324 00:22:23.919 --> 00:22:29.360 of the water and how does that help people find the good vision?'. 325 00:22:29.360 --> 00:22:33.360 - Wow, that's really impressive and we went through a lot today and I just had one 326 00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:36.400 final question for you. What do you think is next for this 327 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:40.800 line of technologies, and any predictions for the future? 328 00:22:40.800 --> 00:22:43.919 - Well, we are currently working on what I hope is 329 00:22:43.919 --> 00:22:48.880 kind of the next generation of using these kinds of technologies. 330 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:52.159 I've been working on a couple different projects 331 00:22:52.159 --> 00:22:56.000 funded by the National Science Foundation 332 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:59.600 to use not just one glider, not just one robot, 333 00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:03.679 but teams of robots that are using acoustics. 334 00:23:03.679 --> 00:23:08.400 The idea is that information you may be able to get from one that has the 335 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:13.200 ability to communicate to shore can be used to direct one or more 336 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:16.159 instruments that have complementary technologies. 337 00:23:16.159 --> 00:23:20.080 So maybe we've got a glider flying around that has 338 00:23:20.080 --> 00:23:24.159 a couple different kinds of acoustics measurements on it. What happens if we've 339 00:23:24.159 --> 00:23:29.280 got it at the buoy nearby, and then a surface vehicle like a wave 340 00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:33.120 glider that can move around, scoot around on the surface 341 00:23:33.120 --> 00:23:38.000 taking complementary measurements - how can those two vehicles work together 342 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:41.440 to get the most amount of data for Gray's Reef? 343 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:45.039 We're also working with a team from Michigan State and Wright State 344 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:49.840 University as well as Georgia Tech where we're taking teams of gliders and 345 00:23:49.840 --> 00:23:52.640 putting them together with schools of robotic 346 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.960 fish that are about three feet long. Their little tails move 347 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:03.520 in bio-inspired motions similar to real fish and they're also able to glide. 348 00:24:03.520 --> 00:24:07.679 Now, each one of those would also have acoustic receivers in them, 349 00:24:07.679 --> 00:24:13.120 but since they're smaller and may not want to come to the surface as often 350 00:24:13.120 --> 00:24:18.559 we can use the glider to be able to provide information that's used to 351 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:24.000 direct the whole fleet of robotic fish as well. These are kinds 352 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:27.279 of strategies that we're developing through 353 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:32.159 artificial intelligence with the major goal being not just to do 354 00:24:32.159 --> 00:24:34.480 things that are cool because robots are cool, 355 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:39.200 but to really get at the management goals for 356 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:44.159 places like Gray's Reef. It's fun to play with your robots 357 00:24:44.159 --> 00:24:48.640 and do all of these collaborative robotics experiments, but ultimately what 358 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:51.840 are the scientific questions that guide Gray's Reef 359 00:24:51.840 --> 00:24:55.279 and how can these tools directly address them? 360 00:24:55.279 --> 00:25:00.400 These are the kinds of things that are in highly experimental and development 361 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.240 phases, but in time could become mature 362 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.000 technologies that sanctuaries like 363 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.200 Gray's Reef and other fisheries managers for the 364 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:15.840 state of Georgia and other areas can use 365 00:25:15.840 --> 00:25:22.880 as a mature management tool. - Wow, that's a really exciting 366 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.279 future for these sorts of technologies and 367 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:28.640 I can't wait to hear in five years what 368 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:33.200 new things we have on the horizon. For now, I'm going to bring Kevin back in 369 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:39.200 and wrap up our brief program here. 370 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.720 So I just wanted to thank both Catherine and 371 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:48.000 Kevin for joining us. For those at home, 372 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.679 if you wanted to learn more about Gray's Reef you can visit 373 00:25:52.679 --> 00:25:57.440 graysreef.noaa.gov. We also have a Twitter account 374 00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:00.480 @GraysReefNMS and we have Facebook as well at 375 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:05.120 facebook.com/graysreefsanctuary. I wanted to again 376 00:26:05.120 --> 00:26:07.679 thank our speakers. If there were any final words from 377 00:26:07.679 --> 00:26:11.919 Catherine or Kevin about technologies or getting out at Gray's Reef, 378 00:26:11.919 --> 00:26:15.039 let them be heard. 379 00:26:16.080 --> 00:26:19.600 - Thanks so much for having me and Catherine and thanks for all the work you 380 00:26:19.600 --> 00:26:22.880 guys are doing. It's really awesome all the technology, all 381 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:26.480 the research that goes into understanding what's going on at Gray's 382 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:30.640 Reef. - I hope we get to go out together at some point this summer. We can deploy 383 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:36.240 gliders together and it'll be a lot of fun. Can't wait. - For sure, we certainly 384 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:39.200 want everyone to get into their sanctuaries. So 385 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:42.240 thank you at home for everyone who tuned in 386 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:52.640 and we'll see you next time, maybe out at the reef. 387 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:54.720 [END]