A team of marine scientists studying deep coral reefs in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands returned from a 25-day excursion Friday with samples of what preliminary tests show could be 10 new species of algae not found anywhere else in the world.
And there’s more.
"We found some spectacular habitat in very deep water, including nursery habitat for juvenile deep reef fishes," said Randy Kosaki, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s chief scientist on the trip. "This has never been seen before. This is a completely new kind of coral reef habitat."
Scientists also used five sets of new technical scuba diving equipment that allowed them to go deeper below the sea and explore longer without fear of running out of air.
Kosaki said the closed-circuit rebreather gear the team used dates back to World War II, but this trip marked the first time it was used on a research expedition to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
"These actually recycle the gas that you breathe," he explained. "As you exhale, carbon dioxide is removed from what you exhale. Computer sensors measure the oxygen (level) and, if appropriate, inject more oxygen so it can continuously vary the mix you’re getting. … So we can go deeper, we can come up faster, because it’s always giving you the best decompression rate."
The expedition was the third of its kind in which scientists traveled to the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument — an expansive federally protected area that encompasses the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — to closely examine coral reefs that live more than 100 feet below sea level.
NOAA scientists also spotted many fish that have never been seen in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and collected several samples of algae that exist elsewhere in the world but have not been seen growing in the island chain. According to NOAA, the exploration of deep reefs has increased the number of fish species known to live there by about 25 percent.
Kosaki said his team made so many new discoveries because deep coral reefs in the marine monument are relatively unexplored.
"Most coral research is done in relatively shallow water — the surface down to 80 or 100 feet," he said. "And yet coral reef habitat goes down to 300 or 400 feet, so we’ve only been samping really the upper third of the coral reef habitat.
"Every reef we dive on with the technical diving gear is a reef that no human being has laid eyes on."
Scientists from the trip plan to partner with the University of Hawaii-Manoa Botany Department and the Smithsonian Institution to determine whether the 10 unidentified species of algae found among the deep coral reefs, along with potential new species of corals, sponges and hydroids also found, are in fact new discoveries.
"Hawaii is already considered a hot spot of biodiversity," Kosaki said. "We’re actually increasing the known biodiversity of this state, so it just underscores the fact that we have a lot of diversity here, and it puts us on the map globally in terms of being a repository of biodiversity.
"And we’re just scratching the surface," he added. "This is the first time we’ve used rebreathers, and we come back with (possibly) 10 new species? That’s virtually unheard of in biology and the scientific world."
The team of scientists was joined by two graduate students from Hawaii Pacific University who collected samples and data related to seawater acidification, or the process of the ocean becoming more acidic.
Student Andrea Kealoha participated in the deep coral reef excursion for a second year in a row. She said 26 percent of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere goes into the ocean, which changes its acidity level and affects coral reefs.
"They can’t form; they start to dissolve as a result of the lowering of the pH," she said.
Three filmmakers from the ‘Oiwi TV team working for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs also accompanied the researchers, as did Native Hawaiian artist Solomon Enos.
"Some of these islands are very, very significant in terms of Native Hawaiian culture," Kosaki said. "There are cultural archaeological sites on these islands that haven’t been filmed in HD (high definition) before, so they’ve got some spectacular footage of the sites."
Enos, who tagged along with the film crew, said the trip was surreal and has inspired a shift in his artwork.
"It was really like getting to know a little bit more of who I am as a Hawaiian and understanding that there is much more to Hawaii than any of us can even imagine, so that’s what I tried to pack into these paintings," he said, showing off six of 16 1-foot-square wooden blocks that he painted on during the trip. "One thing that I tried to put throughout these pieces are human forms because humans, humans, humans are so much a part of when we talk about conservation. We can’t just completely close off the human element."
Kealoha said she didn’t have a chance to disembark the research ship last year, but she was allowed to this year.
"We finally were able to see what we’re saving, what we’re trying to protect," the graduate student said. "And it’s just, I mean, it was just gorgeous. Just the sharks and the dolphins and the fish and the coral and the colors — it was beautiful. So it was an eye-opener, you know; it made our research more than just research. Now it’s personal to me."
