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| photo courtesy of epa.gov |
OFF THE MAINE COAST –
A collaboration of state scientists from several state
agencies, universities, and non-profits will head fifteen miles out to sea next
week to map the ocean floor off the coast of Maine and to observe sea
life in the region.
Sailing on the Ocean Survey Vessel (OSV) Bold – the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s only ocean and coastal monitoring vessel
– the sixteen scientists and observers hope to map as much as an
800-square-mile area off Maine’s coast at a depth of up to 300 feet.
The five-day research expedition includes scientists from
the Maine Department of Conservation (MDOC), the Maine Department of Marine
Resources (DMR), and the University of Maine (UM).
It is expected to result in significant scientific
information that should aide in managing multiple uses of the ocean, such as
shipping, fishing, aquaculture, and energy development, as well as aid in
making informed decisions on marine matters and off-shore development.
“This innovative scientific research hopefully will provide
more answers than questions concerning the interaction between our land-based
natural resources and the ocean floor,” said Agriculture Commissioner Walt
Whitcomb.
“The Bold’s survey work in Maine will provide the Department
of Marine Resources with updated data on benthic habitat in parts of the Gulf
of Maine with modern mapping technology that provides much greater accuracy
than previous mapping efforts, including important lobster fishing grounds and
areas proposed sites for wind turbines,” said marine resources commissioner
Patrick Keliher. “The DMR is mounting a multi-beam sonar system that will
complement R/V Bold’s existing mapping capability and enable the DMR to obtain
information in offshore areas that are difficult to reach in our smaller
vessel.
“We appreciate the efforts Sens. Snowe and Collins made to
ensure this critical mapping will be conducted this summer,” the commissioner
said.
“Maine’s ports are already 700 miles closer to Europe and
the Middle East than are Southern U.S. ports,” Bill Beardsley, the
conservation commissioner, said. “The expanded Panama Canal in 2014 will reduce
the super-container ship distances from Maine ports to China by
forty percent. The multiple use of our ocean resources off the Maine coast are
evolving and are critical to Maine’s future global economy. We simply need to
better understand our offshore submerged lands.”
Matt Nixon, Maine Coastal Program senior planner at MDOC and
one of three principal investigators on the expedition, said no such
collaborative research has ever before been attempted by the State
of Maine.
“We want to get more accurate information about the ’lay of
the land’ of the ocean, much like a surveyor does on land,” Nixon said. “A
better picture of what the seafloor looks like provides us with information
about marine habitats and species.”
The OSV Bold is the EPA’s 224-foot-long research vessel
equipped with state-of-the-art sampling, mapping, and analysis equipment. It
was docked at the International Marine Terminal in Portland before it
shipped out on Tuesday, July 3. It is scheduled to return on Monday, July
9.
The vessel was able to come to Maine for the
research trip through the efforts of Maine’s two senators, U.S.Sens.
Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, who were able to have
the Maine research added to the ship’s summer schedule. “We are very
grateful to Sens. Snowe and Collins, who made this important endeavor
possible,” Nixon said.
The scientific party will be led by EPA Chief Scientist Matt
Liebman. The two other principal investigators are Stephen Dickson, Maine
Geological Survey marine geologist at MDOC, and Carl Wilson, DMR senior lobster
scientist. Other scientists and observers are from the Biodiversity Research
Institute, the University of Southern Maine and
the University of New Hampshire.
The scientists will be divided into three teams; eight
members conducting the benthic (seafloor) mapping; two scientists making
avifauna (bird and wildlife) observations; and five scientists and observers
making observations of large marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins.
The primary reason for the research effort, said Nixon, is
because the state lacks sufficient data on the ocean floor. In 2009, the state
did a needs assessment of its coastal marine data, and “the most important, and
by far the largest gap is in this kind of high resolution seafloor mapping,” he
said.
“All we have now are depth estimations, 19th-century
lead-line soundings, and sporadic, high resolution maps focused on very
specific, small locations, typically inshore,” the MDOC coastal planner said.
“It will be good to have an idea of true depth out there with sound-generated
pictures of what the bottom looks like.”
The scientists will issue a final report within two months
after the trip, including a summary of information collected, plus maps and
observations. Much of the data will be available on line as part of a coastal
atlas.
“It will be exciting to get out on a research cruise like
this,” Nixon said. “It will allow us to integrate our knowledge and skills with
that of other professionals, enabling us to draw a more comprehensive picture
of our marine environment.
For more information about the OSV Bold, go to: http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/assessmonitor/bold/index.cfm.
For more information about the Maine Department of
Conservation, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc.
For more information about the Maine Department of Marine
Resources, go to: http://www.maine.gov/dmr.
