Manned submersibles support a wide range of underwater research in New Enland and the Great Lakes

Abstract

NOAA's National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point (NURC-UCAP) has experienced a meteoric rate of growth since its inception in 1984. Chartered submersibles (manned) support the majority of the underwater research conducted by NURC-UCAP scientists in the Gulf of Maine, southern New England, and in the U.S. Great Lakes. The investigations addressed a wide range of applied and basic research topics. For example, assessments were made of: the impact of "ghost gill nets" on ground fish populations, studies of deep sea scallops, the phenomenon of bioerosion on the ocean and ltke floors, the naturenand role of the fluff" and "nepheloid layers in recycling nutrients and pollutants, water column ecology, the environmental factors governing benthic productivity, and calibration and groundtruthing of conventional surface-oriented sampling gear. Much of the research conducted with manned submersibles has evolved to quantitative, replicated,and site specific experiments. Sophisticated sampling, sensing, photographic and manipulative techniques have been developed to address a wide range of s c i en t i f i c The I' i de a 1 'I shallow water (0 1000 meter) manned submersibles for the 1990's and beyond and their associated scientific capabilities are defi ed, based on 18 years of submers ble experience (approximately 1150 dives in the northeast and Great Lakes) and an assessment of scient fic requirements for the northeast and "Large Lakes of the World". re q u i r eme n t s .