Recently, the students caught a goosefish, which is considered an extremely rare find in the deep waters off Kona. Following the recommendation of scientists at UH, the students donated the specimen to the Bishop Museum for further study.
SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
The species in the collection cage has never been seen by anyone before, not even by the world’s most prominent marine biologists. It has just made the journey from the frigid waters 3,000 feet below the Pacific to a collection station on the black lava shoreline of the Big Island.
Water is pumped from the sea bottom up through a pipeline to the collection station. In the process, organisms are “vacuumed” into the pipe and quickly transported from a world of total darkness and crushing pressure to a world of sunshine and trade winds. A filtration basket traps these organisms. The filtered water continues on and is used by several nearby private firms engaged in scientific research.
This particular species happens to be a squid and the people who first observed it in the collection cage were scientists, but at least once a week the eyes peering into the collection cage are those of high school students from West Hawaii Explorations Academy.
“These are the only kids in the world who can walk a few hundred yards down the street from their school and fish for deep sea animals,” says Jeff Drazen, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii.
West Hawaii Explorations Academy is an accredited public charter school located next to the collection station. The school is nestled within an enclave of high-tech research companies that make up the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority. The students who have open access to the collection station are enrolled in WHEA’s Deep Sea Project led by teacher Liana White.
“This has been an amazing opportunity for our kids,” White said. “Students who ordinarily are reluctant to participate in research are now enthusiastically studying deep sea organisms. Each kid has a favorite species they hope to find in the collection basket.”
White said the hot topic for the students is the realistic possibility that one of them will be the next person to discover a new species.
“It has been amazing to see all the animals these kids have collected,” said Drazen. “The trap has uncovered several extremely rare specimens and two entirely new species.”
Many of the fish caught in the cage are alive and well when first observed. Ordinarily, submersibles are used to collect deep sea creatures and by the time the submersibles surface, the specimens have died of thermal shock and their condition deteriorates badly before they can be transported to a laboratory for examination. The University of Hawaii is so impressed with the collection station that it is considering building a lab next door so that intact deep sea creatures can be studied immediately after collection.
The Deep Sea Project at WHEA is in its third year. The program has been so productive the school is now home to one of the largest collections of deep sea organisms found off the coast of the Big Island. The scientific community previously believed biodiversity at extreme depths was limited and relatively few species could be found there. Students in the Deep Sea Project have collected data suggesting the contrary and have collected specimens representing 20 different species.
Recently, the students caught a goosefish, which is considered an extremely rare find in the deep waters off Kona. Following the recommendation of scientists at UH, the students donated the specimen to the Bishop Museum for further study.