Deep Sea Dive Lab

Part 1: Background Information

  1. In this lab you will be planning and executing a dive in Monterey Bay Canyon with the submersible - Deep Worker.  Click on the link and read about your submersible. Record the information required below.
  2. The deep worker is a single person submersible that was designed to be highly intuitive to operate and easy to drive. From the same link, write a brief description of how you drive this submersible.

  3. How does the design of this submersible compare to other research subs?

  4. Your sub is going to be deployed by the NOAA research vessel McArthur II. This ship was acquired from U.S. Navy to give NOAA a mobile research station. From the link above record the following information.
    • Length:
    • Total crew (scientific and non-scientific):
    • Speed:
    • Range:
    • Endurance

  5. What is involved in deploying the Deep Worker? Answer each of the following questions:
    • How many people are typically involved in deployment and recovery of the deep worker?
    • The McArthur II has an articulate side crane and a Stern A-Frame. Both of these could be used to launch the Deep Worker. Which is the  preferred method and why?
    • What is the role of the swimmers?

Part 2: Planning your Dives

  1. You will be planning a dive in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Click to see an interactive map of the Sanctuary. You may also want to look at the bathymetric maps given to you in class. The goal of you mission to make as many biological observations as possible. To do this you will have to look at three different habitat types: canyon walls, mid-water, and sea floor bottom.

  2. Your dives must also include a mix of hard and soft substrate. Examine a map of the substrate of Montery Bay and continue to think about where your dives should take place.

  3. It is important that you not exceed the time or depth limitations for your dive, so lets do some math.
    • Deep workers max speed (in km) __________.
    • Deep thruster batteries can work for 6 hours. What is the maximum range (in km) you could cover? ______
    • It does not make sense for you to race through your dive. You are there to make observations. In addition, you are not traveling a straight line, you dive will include lots of up's and downs. Lets assume that you will travel at a rate equal to one third of the Deep Worker's maximum Speed (or maybe even less). At this rate, what distance can you reasonably expect your dive to cover (in km)? ________

  4. Taking into account the goals of your mission, your habitat and substrate requirements, and your depth and distance limitations draw on your map an approximate transect of you dive.

Part 3: Recording your Dive

  1. Once you have selected a region to dive, open up Google Earth. Type in "Monterey Bay". Spend some time exploring the area. Use your controls to trace out your dive in three dimensions, under water.

  2. Record the exact latitude and longitude of your dives beginning _________ and ending __________. Use the hand to point to any location on the screen and it will tell you the lat and long on the bottom of the screen. You can also use the thumb tack (add place mark) feature to mark a begining and ending.

  3. Use the "Ruler" feature to trace out your transect. Using the "ruler" you can measure your transect lines in km or nautical miles. You can also note latitude and longitude. Keep in mind, your route does not have to be a straight line.

  4. Use the record feature to record your dive in three dimensions. You may have to practice this a few times before you get it right. Once you hit the record button, you can follow your transect line using the hand or using the lower set of arrows. The upper set of arrows control with way you are looking, and the +/_ toggle bar controls your altitude. Clearly you need to be underwater (check the eye elevation) but you also need to stay above -600 m in depth. You can also record your voice in the recording, if you want to narrate your tour.

  5. When you are satisfied with your recording, show your recording to your teacher and get their initials on your paper. __________

Part 4: Biological observations

  1. Check out the Life in the Deep Interactive feature from Monterey Bay Aquarium. Examine the video from each of the habitats listed describe what they physically look like. Watch the videos and describe two species from each you might expect see during your dive.
      • Canyon Walls
        • Physical Conditions (what does it look like)

        • Species (descriptions)

      • Midwater
        • Physical Conditions (what does it look like)

        • Species (descriptions)

      • Seafloor
        • Physical Conditions (what does it look like)

        • Species (descriptions)