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HRI's doctoral student Peter Etnoyer helped provide the link
between a Navy submarine over 300 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and
computer screens across the country
during the Secrets of the Gulf expedition of the Flower Garden Banks
National
Marine Sanctuary March 3-9.
Dr. Robert Ballard on screen at HRI during
live feed from the expedition
The scientific expedition, led by National Geographic
explorer-in-residence Dr. Robert Ballard, was unusual in that it
contained a broadcast component. The scientists' voices narrating
live video images being shot about 400 feet below the surface
were beamed to the five portals across the country.
Every cabin, van, and workspace on the research vessel was wired
for communication to the shore via dedicated satellite and microwave
feeds. The entire Secrets of the Gulf expedition was broadcast live
over the web through an emerging exploration technology Dr. Ballard
calls "telepresence."
The HRI served as a modified command center for the expedition.
One of the main reasons HRI was chosen was its ability to receive
and transmit Internet 2. "Bob Ballard describes Internet 2 as a super information highway
that makes the old Internet look like a dirt road," Etnoyer said,
adding, "The HRI has the connections (physical, social and
professional) and the reputation that it takes to get us involved in
a project of this magnitude."
HRI doctoral student Peter Etnoyer (at podium) and Dr. Tom Shirley demonstrate to an Elderhostel group that visited
during the live feed the high technology used to receive and
transmit the signal from the expedition.
How It Worked
HRI was one of only five broadcast consoles in the nation to
receive enhanced live video feeds from the expedition. The Information Technology
Department at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, where HRI is located,
commandeered one of HRI's public auditoriums equipped with Internet 2 to share
streaming large format video to more than 250 people, including
local print and television news media.
"People were up at all hours of the night sending emails, tweaking
knobs and taking notes," Etnoyer said. The feed came over Internet 2
into a “video-brick,” which allowed a full frame projection of the
website feed. The local ABC television station (Kiii) recorded
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video
off the screen and broadcast it on a segment of the local news.
"If it weren't for the I.T. Departments within the Texas A&M
system, we could
never be getting these live feeds from the submersibles," Etnoyer
explained, adding, "The HRI was very forward thinking to design the building to accommodate this technology."
The live feed was made possible through the collective effort of University
of Texas at Austin,
Texas A&M in College Station and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Expedition Team
Ballard and his team of scientists explored the “twilight zone”
near 100 meters depth around the Flower Garden Banks using both the
Navy sub and an ROV called the Argos II.
Throughout the five-day expedition, researchers Bob Ballard, GP Schmall, Emma Hickerson and others took
turns swapping seats in the submersible, the ROV with video camera,
and the research vessel on the surface.
Deepwater life at the Flower Garden
Banks. Image from Secrets of the Gulf expedition
The expedition took two days to circumnavigate the Flower Garden
Banks National Marine Sanctuary, where the scientists found large
gorgonian sea fans up to 1 meter tall.
Etnoyer, who is studying under HRI's Dr. Tom Shirley, endowed chair
for biodiversity studies, is doing his doctoral dissertation
research on deepwater benthic gorgonian sea fans around the Flower
Gardens at about 100 meters depth. "The biological transects
performed during this expedition will add data to my dissertation
work," Etnoyer said.
The Flower Garden Banks are some of the most intensely explored
and healthiest coral reefs in the Western Atlantic, but very
little is known about deep water species in the sanctuary.
Through his research, Etnoyer has worked with Sanctuary staff to
identify 20 deep octocoral species so far, and a few deep “hotspots”
for gorgonians, but like most tropical reef systems around the
world, everything deeper than 80 meters is still a mystery.
"Most people think about shallow-water corals providing habitat for
fish and marine life but in deeper waters the gorgonians take that
place, as they don’t need light," Etnoyer said.
The Secrets of the Gulf muliticast was an important exercise for
the HRI, acting as a test bed for future expeditions. Having
demonstrated the technology and its ability to use it, the HRI is
ready to participate in future adventures in the deep and open
ocean.
For more information about Secrets of the Gulf Expedition, visit
oceanslive.org or contact Peter Etnoyer at (361)
825-2030. |
