America's Deepest Coral Reef
Posted By Tim Taylor on 20 February 2007
Expedition Heroes
After learning to dive in Maine as young boy, I moved to Florida in 1979, for 25 years, I have been diving and working on research projects in Florida, the Bahamas, Mexican and Cuban reefs; I have never seen anything like Pulley Ridge in all my time on the bottom of the ocean, including thousands of dives from 30 to over 200 feet in depth. As I descended I was hovering over the most amazing reef I had ever seen, in that moment I truly understood what it is to feel fellowship with members of a Club that celebrates exploration. That night we traveled 35 miles back to rendezvous with the Suncoaster and transfer my first photographs. It was not until later, while showing these aboard the larger vessel to the scientists, that we realized we had captured the imagery and samples that had proven elusive to all others for the past five years. The success of the divers can best be summed up by Billy Causey, U.S. South Eastern Regional Sanctuaries Manager when he said, "This was possibly the most comprehensive, and focused assessment of deep water coral reef environment ever undertaken".
The ability to take the study of coral to new depths is made possible by mixed gas diving, and more recently, closed circuit rebreathers. This equipment is finding its way into the research field from the cave and deep wreck diving communities. Although slow to be accepted, the future use of this form of advanced technical diving is clear. It allows an expedition team such as mine to accomplish the same tasks today that would have taken ten times the equipment and manpower to do a decade ago. On this expedition the Deep Worker Submarine was able to log 21 hours of observable bottom time compared to our team of divers who logged 18.5 hours** and were better equipped to collect some of the more delicate samples from the reef floor. What will happen to ocean studies when these tools find their way into the hands of scientists and trained naturalists? The possible discoveries are endless. Until then, explorers like Jim Culter, his cave team and myself will act as their eyes and hands, much as the Apollo astronauts did for earthbound geologists crowded around a radio receiver at Houston Control just 35 years ago.
The expeditions conducted on my vessel more often than not include my 8 year-old daughter and 10 year-old son, both open water experienced divers. It is my deepest hope that they will not the only ones of their generation to see these amazing sites. What a terrible legacy would we leave them with if no efforts are made to reverse the current trends caused by mankind.
I am now on the 8th day of the Park Service coral study at anchor, weathering out three days of 30 to 50 knot winds from our first tropical storm of the 2006 season, and my mixed emotions remain. These thoughts can best be described as watching an old friend slowly fade away from a debilitating disease while at the same time the family welcomes a newborn child. Is this deep reef a link to a past healthy reef system? Can it and others like it be refuge for the future recovery of coral reefs? Will they help us to understand what is truly happening to corals around the world today? I believe the answer to these questions is yes and this is what gives me hope. Pulley Ridge then, is for me, Hope's Reef and it gives me cause to celebrate. Hopefully this and future discoveries will help us find the key to long term sustainability of the corals and the symbiotic ecosystems that will help us save our shallow water corals. At the same time the explorer gene in me beckons to locate and explore more deep coral reefs, for by their very existence I am reminded how little we know about what lies under the ocean's surface and their discovery may lead to valuable information to help us preserve the reefs. This is a task listed under the "what's left to explore" category; it will require time, energy, dedication, and properly funded resources if we are to be granted the privilege of discovering new, unique marine ecosystems and then preserving and learning from them.
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