Divers conduct health check-up of Aleutians

Submitted by Carin Bailey
Phone: (907) 322-8730
10/03/06

When the Aleutian Islands were scheduled for a health check-up this summer, researchers donned dive suits and jumped right in.

A team of researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation spent over a month at sea and nearly 140 hours underwater collecting scientific samples that will help determine the environmental health of the Aleutian Islands.

"The samples we have collected are unparalleled in both quantity and diversity," said Stephen Jewett, leader of the dive team and research professor of marine biology at UAF’s School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. "This collection will provide important snapshots of coastal marine life in the Aleutians."

In June and July 2006, a team of six divers sampled 23 sites that spanned 240 miles of coastline along the eastern half of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The divers dove as deep as 60 feet to collect fish, algae, bottom-dwelling organisms, and water and sediment samples from the seafloor. The research dives were conducted from the R/V Norseman of Seward, Alaska.

"What we are really doing is taking the pulse of the Aleutian marine environment," said Doug Dasher, environmental engineer and chief scientist on the project for the DEC. "For the first time, scientists will be able to take a holistic measurement of the overall health of the ecosystem. It is important to do this now, so that we have something to measure against in the future."

Scientists at UAF and the DEC are currently analyzing the samples for water quality, possible contaminants in marine organisms, and to measure the distribution of marine life in the area. The biological specimens, as well as underwater photographs and videos, will be used to catalog the diversity of the nearshore ecosystem.

Preliminary findings already show a distinct variation in biodiversity and water chemistry in at least one of the sampling sites. Results are expected to be released within the next year.

The dives were sponsored by the Alaska Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program. The program is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and managed through a joint agreement between the DEC and UAF. Program scientists are responsible for monitoring the health of Alaska"sØs fresh and marine waters.

Other divers included UAF researchers Max Hoberg, Reid Brewer, Heloise Chenelot, and Shawn Harper, as well as Roger Clark, an invertebrate taxonomist from Oregon. Researchers on board the Norseman included Mandy Lindeberg, an algae expert, and Jim Gendron and Terri Lomax, water chemists from the DEC. The team will return to the area next year to collect samples from the western Aleutian Islands.

"Diving in the western Aleutians is the ultimate cold-water dive experience," said Jewett. "There is no other place in Alaska or maybe in the North Pacific where you can find water visibility approaching 100 feet and see such an incredible diversity of marine life."

The AKMAP Aleutian effort supports the National Coastal Assessment Program, a nation-wide project to survey the U.S. nearshore coastline. AKMAP methods provide a practical, cost-effective system to characterize Alaska"sØs coastal and surface waters. The AKMAP team has already sampled the marine waters off of Alaska’s southcentral and southeastern coasts. The Aleutians section of the program is the third of five planned surveys to assess Alaska’s entire coastline.

The UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences conducts world-class marine and fisheries research, education and outreach across Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctic. More than 60 faculty scientists and 150 graduate students are engaged in building knowledge about Alaska and the world"sØs coastal and marine ecosystems. SFOS is headquartered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and serves the state from facilities located in Seward, Juneau, Anchorage and Kodiak.

CONTACT: Stephen Jewett, research professor, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, at (907) 474-7841 or via e-mail at jewett@ims.uaf.edu.

For high-resolution photos and underwater videos, contact Carin Bailey, public information officer, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, at (907) 322-8730 or via e-mail at bailey@sfos.uaf.edu

ON THE WEB: www.sfos.uaf.edu