WEBVTT 00:04.671 --> 00:08.575 >>NARRATOR: Sharks have fascinated mankind 00:08.575 --> 00:12.312 and held it in awe for centuries. 00:12.312 --> 00:16.917 However, most people only know the few species 00:16.917 --> 00:21.722 that sometimes come in contact with humans. 00:24.458 --> 00:27.160 >>Most of the living species of sharks on the planet 00:27.160 --> 00:29.496 live in the deep sea. 00:29.496 --> 00:31.832 Of the, say, 500 species of sharks living 00:31.832 --> 00:34.434 that we know of now, 00:34.434 --> 00:36.370 between 55% and 60% of them 00:36.370 --> 00:39.373 live their whole lives deeper than 700 feet deep. 00:39.373 --> 00:42.976 >>It's a totally, totally different environment. 00:42.976 --> 00:44.845 >>The information that we have 00:44.845 --> 00:49.683 for a lot of these deepwater species has been restricted 00:49.683 --> 00:54.054 historically to a handful of specimens that exist in museums. 00:54.054 --> 00:56.924 If you compare what we know about deep sea sharks 00:56.924 --> 00:58.258 to these coastal species, 00:58.258 --> 01:01.695 we're years behind them and we're still playing catch-up. 01:01.695 --> 01:03.096 >>NARRATOR: These rarely seen animals 01:03.096 --> 01:05.332 range from the very large 01:05.332 --> 01:08.869 and prehistoric-looking bluntnose sixgill shark... 01:08.869 --> 01:11.038 >>They're just so cool. 01:11.038 --> 01:14.541 These sharks have these big, shiny, emerald-colored eyes; 01:14.541 --> 01:15.876 they're just gorgeous. 01:15.876 --> 01:18.378 >>NARRATOR: ...to the small and bioluminescent 01:18.378 --> 01:20.447 green lanternshark. 01:20.447 --> 01:23.517 >>That is such a cool little dude. 01:23.517 --> 01:26.653 >>NARRATOR: Until now, relatively little research 01:26.653 --> 01:29.489 has been conducted on the sharks of the deep, 01:29.489 --> 01:33.193 leaving many questions unanswered. 01:33.193 --> 01:36.663 >>That's the last domain in shark research. 01:36.663 --> 01:38.365 It's just wide open. 02:03.724 --> 02:06.860 >>Major funding for this program was provided 02:06.860 --> 02:11.198 by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people to preserve 02:11.198 --> 02:15.035 and protect America's underwater resources. 02:17.671 --> 02:19.873 And by Divers Direct, 02:19.873 --> 02:24.144 inspiring the pursuit of tropical adventure scuba diving. 02:45.399 --> 02:49.136 >>NARRATOR: On a sunny day in October, a team of scientists 02:49.136 --> 02:52.439 is busy loading up the R.V. Weatherbird 02:52.439 --> 02:54.875 for a ten-day research cruise. 02:54.875 --> 03:00.013 Their destination: the northern Gulf of Mexico. 03:01.448 --> 03:05.952 The goal: to find out if the BP oil spill 03:05.952 --> 03:10.057 has impacted the bottom-dwelling sharks and other fishes 03:10.057 --> 03:12.359 in the deep sea. 03:18.231 --> 03:21.301 >>One of the real unfortunate parts 03:21.301 --> 03:23.136 about the Deepwater Horizon blowout 03:23.136 --> 03:25.939 was that after it happened, everybody said, 03:25.939 --> 03:28.041 "Well, all right, this thing occurred at a mile deep. 03:28.041 --> 03:30.644 Well, what ecosystems are being affected?" 03:30.644 --> 03:33.113 And for the most part, we had to say we don't know 03:33.113 --> 03:35.449 because so little of it had been studied. 03:36.349 --> 03:38.885 I think the primary reason 03:38.885 --> 03:40.921 that this work hasn't been done before is just the expense. 03:40.921 --> 03:43.957 It's logistically difficult to work in the deep sea, 03:43.957 --> 03:45.592 especially with big animals. 03:49.162 --> 03:52.933 >>NARRATOR: In April of 2010, 03:52.933 --> 03:56.636 the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig 03:56.636 --> 03:59.973 set off the largest accidental marine oil spill 03:59.973 --> 04:02.809 in the history of the petroleum industry. 04:07.581 --> 04:09.983 Over the course of nearly three months, 04:09.983 --> 04:13.653 roughly 4.9 million barrels of crude oil 04:13.653 --> 04:18.058 gushed out of the well and into the Gulf of Mexico. 04:18.058 --> 04:20.927 Never before had an oil spill occurred at such depth, 04:20.927 --> 04:27.901 leaving many to ponder the long- term impacts of the spill. 04:30.737 --> 04:34.941 To better understand what fishes live in the deep waters 04:34.941 --> 04:38.512 of the northern Gulf and how they may have been impacted, 04:38.512 --> 04:42.649 Dr. Dean Grubbs, together with a team of scientists, 04:42.649 --> 04:47.420 began regular research trips shortly after the spill. 04:54.294 --> 04:56.763 To capture a variety of animals, 04:56.763 --> 05:01.535 the scientists use a combination of traps and long lines. 05:03.637 --> 05:05.172 >>We're setting out a long line. 05:05.172 --> 05:07.774 It's designed to basically allow us to pinpoint habitats 05:07.774 --> 05:09.042 at different depths. 05:09.042 --> 05:12.345 So, we've got five different hook sizes, 05:12.345 --> 05:14.981 and that allows us to catch relatively small fishes 05:14.981 --> 05:17.918 all the way up to 15-, 16-foot sharks, 05:17.918 --> 05:19.386 sometimes on the same line. 05:19.386 --> 05:22.189 And then, we also have interspersed along here 05:22.189 --> 05:24.691 three different types of traps. 05:24.691 --> 05:27.961 The idea of the traps is, they'll catch some fish 05:27.961 --> 05:30.297 that won't get caught on the hooks, and they'll also catch 05:30.297 --> 05:31.798 some of the invertebrates that we want 05:31.798 --> 05:34.968 that are lower down on the food chain. 05:34.968 --> 05:38.505 We'll let this stay out there for about four or five hours, 05:38.505 --> 05:40.106 and we'll come back and haul it. 05:40.106 --> 05:42.442 So, we're going to set three of these back to back, 05:42.442 --> 05:46.046 going from shallower to deeper until we've set the third one; 05:46.046 --> 05:49.349 we'll return to the first one and pick it up. 05:51.818 --> 05:53.587 >>NARRATOR: The experts begin their work 05:53.587 --> 05:56.656 on the eastern slope of the Continental Shelf 05:56.656 --> 06:01.561 in an area that is thought to be less impacted by the oil. 06:01.561 --> 06:05.098 From here, they will slowly work their way southwest 06:05.098 --> 06:08.802 into the deeper waters of the DeSoto Canyon. 06:08.802 --> 06:11.605 The Desoto Canyon is an erosional valle 06:11.605 --> 06:14.975 that cuts through the broad Continental Shelf 06:14.975 --> 06:17.944 in the northern part of the Gulf. 06:17.944 --> 06:22.949 The oil spill occurred in the southwest portion of the canyon. 06:22.949 --> 06:26.052 >>And, of course, the currents and the wind took the oil 06:26.052 --> 06:28.722 north into the Louisiana, Mississippi region 06:28.722 --> 06:30.090 and everything. 06:30.090 --> 06:33.560 And so, basically, it blew it right up the DeSoto Canyon. 06:44.804 --> 06:49.442 >>NARRATOR: After a few hours, it's time for the scientists 06:49.442 --> 06:52.879 to start hauling the lines and traps back onto the boat. 06:52.879 --> 06:55.215 And it doesn't take long before they have a nearly 15-foot 06:55.215 --> 07:00.153 bluntnose sixgill shark on the line. 07:00.153 --> 07:02.222 >>No matter what book you look in, 07:02.222 --> 07:04.991 they'll tell you it's a rare large deepwater shark. 07:04.991 --> 07:07.494 Well, everywhere I've gone and tried to catch them, 07:07.494 --> 07:08.595 I've caught them. 07:08.595 --> 07:09.829 I don't think they're that rare. 07:09.829 --> 07:12.532 They seem to be quite common worldwide in tropical 07:12.532 --> 07:18.004 to subtropical oceans at 200 to maybe 1,000 meters deep. 07:22.342 --> 07:23.643 They're definitely exciting; 07:23.643 --> 07:25.211 they're the biggest sharks we catch. 07:25.211 --> 07:27.447 We've caught probably a dozen or more that are over 15 feet long 07:27.447 --> 07:32.852 in the Gulf of Mexico, up to 17 feet long. 07:32.852 --> 07:35.288 >>They only have one dorsal fin, and their jaw structure 07:35.288 --> 07:37.724 is a little different than some of the other sharks-- 07:37.724 --> 07:39.125 huge, sawblade-like teeth. 07:40.660 --> 07:46.066 If you look for a tooth that resembles a living shark species 07:46.066 --> 07:48.368 in a fossil record from 200 million years ago, 07:48.368 --> 07:50.804 it looks just like the sixgills from today. 07:50.804 --> 07:52.906 And so, that shark that we're looking at 07:52.906 --> 07:55.842 out on the deck of the boat likely looks exactly like 07:55.842 --> 07:58.511 the shark that was swimming around 200 million years ago 07:58.511 --> 08:00.513 before most of the dinosaurs were on the scene. 08:00.513 --> 08:04.317 So, the first one I caught, to me, you know, 08:04.317 --> 08:06.219 that's as if I just pulled up a T-rex, 08:06.219 --> 08:08.288 brontosaurus or something. 08:12.359 --> 08:13.994 >>NARRATOR: After taking some basic measurements 08:13.994 --> 08:18.131 and a tissue sample, the shark is tagged... 08:18.131 --> 08:19.632 >>4-3-0-5, p-zero-zero-4. 08:19.632 --> 08:21.668 >>NARRATOR: ...and let go. 08:27.941 --> 08:33.480 Early on, the experts also catch a lot of other fish, 08:33.480 --> 08:37.083 including a small shark species known as the Cuban dogfish. 08:37.083 --> 08:41.721 While the scientists do release large sharks like the sixgill, 08:41.721 --> 08:45.558 most of the other fish can't be let go. 08:45.558 --> 08:47.127 >>It would be great if all of our research, 08:47.127 --> 08:48.828 we could just tag and release everything, 08:48.828 --> 08:50.797 get all the information we needed from that. 08:50.797 --> 08:53.967 Unfortunately, that's not the way it is. 08:53.967 --> 08:57.270 >>NARRATOR: Since so little is known about the life histories 08:57.270 --> 08:59.472 of many of these fishes and how they may have been impacted 08:59.472 --> 09:00.940 by the oil spill, 09:00.940 --> 09:05.311 scientists need to collect and dissect specimens. 09:05.311 --> 09:09.382 >>These are the dorsal fin spines from this Cuban dogfish, 09:09.382 --> 09:11.217 Squalus cubensis. 09:11.217 --> 09:14.054 This is the first dorsal spine, this is the second. 09:14.054 --> 09:16.356 >>Most people probably don't realize that some sharks 09:16.356 --> 09:18.158 have spines on their dorsal fins. 09:18.158 --> 09:19.559 Most sharks don't. 09:19.559 --> 09:20.693 >>NARRATOR: The shark species 09:20.693 --> 09:23.797 that have spines in front of their fins 09:23.797 --> 09:27.333 record growth bands on these spines, 09:27.333 --> 09:30.537 similar to the growth rings on a tree. 09:30.537 --> 09:36.242 Counting these bands allows scientists to age the animals. 09:36.242 --> 09:37.777 >>Age information is important 09:37.777 --> 09:41.781 for determining the maximum age of the species 09:41.781 --> 09:44.717 and also determining age at maturity. 09:44.717 --> 09:47.053 This is important in a management context; 09:47.053 --> 09:49.389 we need to know what age they are 09:49.389 --> 09:50.824 when they first start reproducing 09:50.824 --> 09:52.425 and also for population level estimates. 09:55.128 --> 09:57.730 >>NARRATOR: At some of the study sites, 09:57.730 --> 10:01.768 the animals come up ravaged by isopods, 10:01.768 --> 10:06.172 scavengers that attack dead and dying animals in the sea. 10:06.172 --> 10:08.241 >>They make quick work of a carcass. 10:08.241 --> 10:11.177 It's a bony fish; there'll be nothing but a skeleton left 10:11.177 --> 10:13.046 if you leave it down there too long. 10:13.046 --> 10:16.616 And if it's a shark, a lot of times it'll be just 10:16.616 --> 10:19.085 an empty skin sack with no tissue, no meat, no muscle left. 10:19.085 --> 10:20.420 They're efficient. 10:26.626 --> 10:29.596 >>NARRATOR: As the scientists move their lines and traps 10:29.596 --> 10:34.801 into deeper water, the species they catch start to change. 10:34.801 --> 10:37.403 >>So, that's what we are calling Squalus mitsukurii, 10:37.403 --> 10:41.541 and it's really similar to the little Cuban dogfish, 10:41.541 --> 10:44.410 Squalus cubensis, we were catching earlier in the trip. 10:44.410 --> 10:45.879 >>NARRATOR: These two types of sharks, 10:45.879 --> 10:50.750 as well as certain bony fishes, are among the primary species 10:50.750 --> 10:53.653 for the oil-spill related studies. 10:53.653 --> 10:56.589 They make for good sentinels because they are caught 10:56.589 --> 10:59.859 in large quantities and in areas that are thought to be 10:59.859 --> 11:02.562 more or less affected by the spill. 11:02.562 --> 11:05.532 >>That's one of the two species of hakes we get 11:05.532 --> 11:07.267 that are really common. 11:07.267 --> 11:09.702 There is a shallow water hake, Urophycis floridana, 11:09.702 --> 11:11.638 that we get predominantly between 200 11:11.638 --> 11:12.972 and about 400 meters or so 11:12.972 --> 11:17.677 and then about 400 meters, we start getting Urophycis cirrata. 11:17.677 --> 11:20.446 And so, those are two of our sentinel species 11:20.446 --> 11:23.283 that we are using sort of to look for spatiall 11:23.283 --> 11:27.954 and depth-mediated differences in exposure to oil and mercur 11:27.954 --> 11:29.822 and all those kinds of things. 11:35.361 --> 11:39.599 >>NARRATOR: To study the potential impacts of the oil, 11:39.599 --> 11:44.337 the scientists analyze the animals for signs of exposure 11:44.337 --> 11:48.208 to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. 11:48.208 --> 11:52.278 PAHs are not only some of the most toxic components of oil, 11:52.278 --> 11:57.083 but they also take a long time to break down. 11:57.083 --> 11:59.152 >>So, this is Urophycis cirrata. 11:59.152 --> 12:01.487 We are going to take a couple of different samples on it. 12:01.487 --> 12:03.122 First, it's going to be blood. 12:03.122 --> 12:05.892 We are looking at the effects of the oil spill 12:05.892 --> 12:09.395 or any toxicity in general. 12:09.395 --> 12:12.031 So now, I'm going to go after the bile and liver. 12:12.031 --> 12:16.636 We are using those again for metabolites of toxins. 12:16.636 --> 12:21.975 So, that was the liver there... this large pink. 12:21.975 --> 12:24.377 And associated with the liver 12:24.377 --> 12:27.013 is the gallbladder, which is usually... 12:27.013 --> 12:29.349 in this fish, it's kind of bulbous. 12:29.349 --> 12:31.017 It's almost always green or brown, 12:31.017 --> 12:34.487 and it has almost a neon green tint to it, 12:34.487 --> 12:37.690 the bile within the gallbladder does. 12:37.690 --> 12:42.128 And it's time- and light-sensitive, 12:42.128 --> 12:45.331 so we try to get it as quickly as possible 12:45.331 --> 12:47.166 and put it in a light-sensitive container 12:47.166 --> 12:48.635 and then it goes immediately on ice. 12:48.635 --> 12:52.538 Then it goes for the rest of its processing. 12:52.538 --> 12:55.708 >>NARRATOR: All the toxicology samples taken from the animals 12:55.708 --> 12:59.679 are worked up in a lab at the University of North Florida. 12:59.679 --> 13:01.080 >>Looking to see if, one: 13:01.080 --> 13:04.250 Is there evidence that the PAHs have been taken up 13:04.250 --> 13:06.686 in the food chain of these animals? 13:06.686 --> 13:07.754 Then second: 13:07.754 --> 13:09.589 Are they just getting sequestered in the liver 13:09.589 --> 13:12.992 and disappearing, or are they actually being metabolized? 13:12.992 --> 13:15.561 And then, if they are being metabolized, the next step is 13:15.561 --> 13:18.765 to start looking at sublethal effects, chromosome damage, 13:18.765 --> 13:20.833 things like that from the PAHs. 13:20.833 --> 13:22.969 What we have seen so far is that, yes, 13:22.969 --> 13:26.239 the closer you get to the oil spill site, 13:26.239 --> 13:32.478 the higher the rate of occurrence of these PAHs. 13:32.478 --> 13:36.549 We also see increases in rates of metabolism 13:36.549 --> 13:40.219 as you get closer to the site. 13:40.219 --> 13:42.155 And there's also some real preliminary evidence 13:42.155 --> 13:43.890 that the deeper you go into DeSoto Canyon, 13:43.890 --> 13:49.128 the higher the prevalence of exposure to these PAHs. 13:49.128 --> 13:52.432 But even so far, with the ones 13:52.432 --> 13:56.436 that University of North Florida folks have analyzed to date, 13:56.436 --> 13:59.072 the levels of metabolism still seem pretty low. 13:59.072 --> 14:02.408 They're not at a level that is shocking for most of these taxa. 14:02.408 --> 14:06.112 And so, it's hard to draw too many conclusions at this point 14:06.112 --> 14:09.048 about what the overall effect of this exposure will be. 14:09.048 --> 14:12.452 You also have to understand that with these deep sea fishes, 14:12.452 --> 14:14.821 their metabolism is so slow anyway. 14:14.821 --> 14:17.557 So, it will take some time to see 14:17.557 --> 14:19.425 if this cycles through the food web 14:19.425 --> 14:21.661 and see if there are any kind of sublethal effects 14:21.661 --> 14:24.464 on reproductive success or any of those kinds of things. 14:24.464 --> 14:26.766 >>Brenda just passed me a Urophycis cirrata, 14:26.766 --> 14:29.135 so it's my turn to take samples from it. 14:29.135 --> 14:32.939 So, I'll take a fin clip to look at the animal's DNA. 14:32.939 --> 14:36.075 We try to take as many samples from every animal that we catch 14:36.075 --> 14:38.778 as possible, including taking samples for researchers 14:38.778 --> 14:41.114 at other institutions. 14:41.114 --> 14:44.617 >>At times, there are, you know, 30 different samples 14:44.617 --> 14:46.252 that will get collected from one animal, you know. 14:46.252 --> 14:49.589 So, we are trying to make the most use 14:49.589 --> 14:52.291 out of sacrificing these animals. 14:52.291 --> 14:54.427 >>So next, I'll take a sample of white muscle 14:54.427 --> 14:58.631 for mercury analysis. 14:58.631 --> 15:00.666 >>NARRATOR: In addition to containing 15:00.666 --> 15:02.435 trace amounts of mercury in the oil, 15:02.435 --> 15:05.605 oil spills may create an environment that is conducive 15:05.605 --> 15:09.175 to the transformation of mercury into a more toxic form 15:09.175 --> 15:12.812 that is easily absorbed by animals. 15:12.812 --> 15:16.382 This monomethylmercury bioaccumulates up the food chain 15:16.382 --> 15:19.085 and is highly toxic. 15:19.085 --> 15:23.523 >>Just going to cut a little piece off of this mercury sample 15:23.523 --> 15:25.258 to put in a vial for stable isotope analysis. 15:25.258 --> 15:29.929 The stable isotopes tell us where in the food web 15:29.929 --> 15:32.031 the animal is feeding. 15:32.031 --> 15:35.835 >>NARRATOR: Collecting this information gives scientists 15:35.835 --> 15:37.837 a better picture of the overall food web 15:37.837 --> 15:41.774 and whether or not the oil spill may have changed it. 15:41.774 --> 15:45.211 This oil spill-related research is conducted 15:45.211 --> 15:51.350 as part of a larger effort by the Deep-C Consortium. 15:51.350 --> 15:53.352 >>We were interested in connectivit 15:53.352 --> 15:57.023 between the coastal area and the deep sea, 15:57.023 --> 16:00.092 but in order to really understand that we have 16:00.092 --> 16:03.763 to connect all of these different disciplines 16:03.763 --> 16:07.300 in a really truly integrated way. 16:07.300 --> 16:10.570 We have a slew of people involved, 16:10.570 --> 16:15.608 from geomorphologists to physical oceanographers, 16:15.608 --> 16:17.477 chemical oceanographers. 16:17.477 --> 16:19.612 Our group is a fisheries' ecology group. 16:19.612 --> 16:22.048 And then modelers and so forth. 16:22.048 --> 16:23.983 Once we started getting going 16:23.983 --> 16:26.486 and people started talking to each other, all of a sudden, 16:26.486 --> 16:29.322 they started finding natural connections 16:29.322 --> 16:31.257 between the different groups, 16:31.257 --> 16:36.229 and that's what we are after is the integrating all the pieces 16:36.229 --> 16:37.897 of the puzzle. 16:37.897 --> 16:39.465 >>From the oil spill perspective, 16:39.465 --> 16:41.167 it's the things that are well-known 16:41.167 --> 16:43.202 that are most important because they're the things 16:43.202 --> 16:47.373 that we can get plenty of samples of in order to be able 16:47.373 --> 16:51.310 to say quantitatively whether there was an effect of oil 16:51.310 --> 16:52.578 on these taxa or not. 16:52.578 --> 16:56.816 But from my scientific interest in the deep sea, 16:56.816 --> 17:00.620 it's the rare things that really get you excited. 17:00.620 --> 17:03.356 >>And there is no shortage of amazing critters 17:03.356 --> 17:05.658 coming up on deck. 17:05.658 --> 17:08.060 >>So, this is Scyliorhinus retifer. 17:08.060 --> 17:09.362 It's a chain catshark. 17:09.362 --> 17:11.831 Absolutely beautiful, just fantastic. 17:11.831 --> 17:14.433 We caught him in a trap. 17:14.433 --> 17:16.002 They do pretty well in captivity, 17:16.002 --> 17:17.570 so we are keeping him in this tank. 17:17.570 --> 17:19.005 And hopefully we'll be able to take him back alive. 17:19.005 --> 17:22.208 >>NARRATOR: While some animals are beautiful, 17:22.208 --> 17:24.510 others are rather creepy. 17:24.510 --> 17:26.879 >>Hagfish intrigue me because that's still 17:26.879 --> 17:30.116 one of the kind of the holy grail of ichthyology is 17:30.116 --> 17:33.719 that we still don't know much about the ecology and biolog 17:33.719 --> 17:35.087 of hagfish. 17:35.087 --> 17:38.691 Most people don't want to work on them because they're nasty! 17:38.691 --> 17:40.526 I mean, they're slimy. 17:40.526 --> 17:42.495 You know, I mean, that's what hagfish are known for. 17:42.495 --> 17:46.465 They seem to produce more slime than their body weight. 17:46.465 --> 17:47.667 You know what I mean? 17:47.667 --> 17:49.335 It's ridiculous. 17:49.335 --> 17:51.037 >>NARRATOR: Along with the hagfish, 17:51.037 --> 17:52.338 another otherworldly creature 17:52.338 --> 17:57.677 gets caught in the traps at depths below 500 meters. 17:57.677 --> 18:01.847 >>Giant isopods are awesome; they're such a cool critter. 18:01.847 --> 18:03.849 I mean, isopods by and large worldwide 18:03.849 --> 18:05.418 don't get bigger than this. 18:05.418 --> 18:07.687 I mean, you know most... most people's... 18:07.687 --> 18:10.456 the isopod most people are familiar with are the pill bugs, 18:10.456 --> 18:13.292 the roly-polys you find in your garden or in your yard. 18:13.292 --> 18:17.296 I mean, this is like a roly-poly that gets this big, you know, 18:17.296 --> 18:20.833 and eats everything that comes down and around it. 18:20.833 --> 18:23.269 You know, it's terrifying to think about it 18:23.269 --> 18:24.670 if you were down there. 18:24.670 --> 18:26.339 I mean, I could just see them all 18:26.339 --> 18:28.207 crawling across the bottom after you. 18:28.207 --> 18:29.575 They're really cool. 18:29.575 --> 18:31.243 Yeah. 18:31.243 --> 18:32.712 Look like a stormtrooper from "Star Wars" 18:32.712 --> 18:34.280 if you look at them head on. 18:34.280 --> 18:36.449 We're not even catching the biggest ones. 18:36.449 --> 18:39.018 I can imagine the big ones are just outside of our traps, 18:39.018 --> 18:42.488 trying to get in, but they can't fit through the door. 18:42.488 --> 18:44.390 >>NARRATOR: And it's not just the isopods 18:44.390 --> 18:47.560 that get larger at depth. 18:47.560 --> 18:51.230 >>Giant snake eel is the biggest of the snake eels. 18:51.230 --> 18:55.434 They get, you know, well over six feet, seven feet long. 18:55.434 --> 18:57.436 The crazy thing about them 18:57.436 --> 19:00.673 is that they actually were just described in the 1980s. 19:00.673 --> 19:02.775 Such a cool, cool creature. 19:02.775 --> 19:05.911 I mean, most snake eels are only this big and that big around. 19:05.911 --> 19:07.446 These things get enormous. 19:10.516 --> 19:12.818 They're feisty, they're tough. 19:12.818 --> 19:14.820 Snake eels are typically burrowers. 19:14.820 --> 19:16.656 I'd love to see what it looks like 19:16.656 --> 19:19.025 on the bottom where they are. 19:19.025 --> 19:22.328 I mean, it's terrifying to think about them. 19:22.328 --> 19:25.031 They must be just these big, giant snake eel heads 19:25.031 --> 19:27.033 sticking out of the mud, you know. 19:27.033 --> 19:30.536 They're definitely the things of a horror movie, you know. 19:32.838 --> 19:35.908 >>NARRATOR: To make the most of their limited time at sea, 19:35.908 --> 19:39.111 the scientists work around the clock. 19:39.111 --> 19:42.848 >>At $10,000 a day almost, I want to work 24 hours a day. 19:42.848 --> 19:48.220 I don't want that ship sitting, doing nothing at all. 19:48.220 --> 19:49.922 And so, they bring two captains onboard 19:49.922 --> 19:51.390 so that they shift in and out 19:51.390 --> 19:52.858 and can keep working around the clock. 19:52.858 --> 19:54.527 And, of course, for us to get sleep, 19:54.527 --> 19:55.995 we have to do the same thing. 19:55.995 --> 19:59.665 The way we get people sleep is that we divide the science crew 19:59.665 --> 20:02.001 into two teams for setting all of our gear. 20:02.001 --> 20:04.136 And so, one team will set all of the gear 20:04.136 --> 20:06.372 and the other team will sleep. 20:06.372 --> 20:08.841 And then, when it comes time to haul that gear, 20:08.841 --> 20:11.110 everybody gets up and hauls together. 20:11.110 --> 20:15.448 The processing of the animals we catch is so labor-intensive, 20:15.448 --> 20:19.318 it requires everybody we have on board. 20:19.318 --> 20:21.454 And then, when we're done hauling that gear, 20:21.454 --> 20:24.957 the next team will set and the previous team will get to sleep. 20:30.096 --> 20:32.031 >>NARRATOR: This means that at times, 20:32.031 --> 20:34.967 scientists work up to 28 hours straight 20:34.967 --> 20:37.536 before they get a few hours of sleep. 20:37.536 --> 20:40.639 >>I think that ability to work around the clock 20:40.639 --> 20:43.642 and on little sleep has a lot to do with what I like to call 20:43.642 --> 20:45.745 "pent-up research aggression," 20:45.745 --> 20:49.949 which is, we spend so much time locked in our offices, 20:49.949 --> 20:52.051 reading papers, working on the computer, 20:52.051 --> 20:54.220 and when we get a chance to come out here and do this stuff, 20:54.220 --> 20:59.558 we just go hog-wild as far and as fast as we can. 20:59.558 --> 21:01.260 >>It's deepwater work, it's exciting! 21:01.260 --> 21:03.429 You don't know what's going to come up, 21:03.429 --> 21:05.998 so that keeps the adrenaline going. 21:08.067 --> 21:10.603 >>NARRATOR: One animal few people have ever seen 21:10.603 --> 21:15.875 is a tiny bioluminescent shark that was caught in a trap. 21:15.875 --> 21:19.211 >>So, this is Etmopterus virens, the green lanternshark. 21:19.211 --> 21:22.948 It's one of the smallest species of sharks there is, period. 21:22.948 --> 21:24.383 Beautiful little creature. 21:24.383 --> 21:26.418 It's probably the most beautiful shark I've ever caught. 21:26.418 --> 21:28.621 They're called a lanternshark because their whole bell 21:28.621 --> 21:32.158 is covered in photophores, actually produces light. 21:32.158 --> 21:34.560 The point of the light is essentiall 21:34.560 --> 21:37.463 to obliterate their silhouette. 21:37.463 --> 21:40.966 They seem to exist between 300 and 1,200 meters deep, 21:40.966 --> 21:44.303 and there's not much light but there is some. 21:44.303 --> 21:47.807 We commonly refer to the area as the twilight zone. 21:57.116 --> 21:59.251 >>NARRATOR: Another shark species 21:59.251 --> 22:01.554 the scientists frequently catch in deeper waters 22:01.554 --> 22:03.756 is the gulper shark. 22:03.756 --> 22:06.258 >>Really cool sharks, big green eyes; 22:06.258 --> 22:08.561 slimy, though, really slimy, slimy sharks. 22:08.561 --> 22:10.262 >>NARRATOR: The gulper shark, 22:10.262 --> 22:13.666 as well as its cousin, Squalus mitsukurii, 22:13.666 --> 22:16.335 which the scientists caught in slightly shallower water, 22:16.335 --> 22:19.839 is poorly defined taxonomically. 22:19.839 --> 22:21.440 >>Because the deep sea environment 22:21.440 --> 22:24.777 is relatively constant worldwide, 22:24.777 --> 22:27.012 you have a lot of species that have worldwide distributions. 22:27.012 --> 22:28.681 But because they look pretty similar, 22:28.681 --> 22:30.850 they've all been called one species. 22:30.850 --> 22:33.752 But often, when you start looking at these things closer, 22:33.752 --> 22:36.956 you find that they're species complexes. 22:36.956 --> 22:40.893 >>It wouldn't surprise me if, within the next five years, 22:40.893 --> 22:43.062 Squalus mitsukurii wasn't divided 22:43.062 --> 22:45.898 into seven species in different regions. 22:45.898 --> 22:48.567 With these animals in hand, we can actually photograph them, 22:48.567 --> 22:51.637 look for morphological characters 22:51.637 --> 22:54.840 that differentiate them and take genetic samples 22:54.840 --> 22:56.642 to see if they're the same species or not. 22:56.642 --> 22:58.310 And by and large, we've found that they aren't. 22:58.310 --> 23:01.013 Same thing with the gulper sharks; the gulper sharks 23:01.013 --> 23:03.916 are a taxonomic mess worldwide. 23:03.916 --> 23:06.051 And a lot of the taxa, especially the sharks, 23:06.051 --> 23:08.821 the bigger fishes fall into that category. 23:08.821 --> 23:11.457 And there are new things out there too; 23:11.457 --> 23:13.959 I mean we caught a skate on one of our previous cruises 23:13.959 --> 23:16.829 that appears to be a new species. 23:16.829 --> 23:18.297 This is a big animal. 23:18.297 --> 23:20.499 It looks completely different than anything else, 23:20.499 --> 23:22.935 and it's gone undetected for so long. 23:22.935 --> 23:25.938 >>NARRATOR: In addition to studying how old they get, 23:25.938 --> 23:27.940 the scientists are also interested in learning 23:27.940 --> 23:32.578 more about the reproductive processes of deep sea sharks. 23:32.578 --> 23:36.882 Shark species use several different modes of reproduction. 23:36.882 --> 23:42.588 While some are egglayers, others give birth to live pups. 23:42.588 --> 23:44.456 >>We've got a gulper shark here. 23:44.456 --> 23:47.860 They only have one offspring per pregnancy. 23:47.860 --> 23:51.530 That's very low for fishes; even among sharks that's fairly low. 23:51.530 --> 23:55.067 So, we don't know what their gestation period is. 23:55.067 --> 23:57.436 It's likely to be pretty long. 23:57.436 --> 24:01.206 A cousin of the gulper shark has a two-year gestation, 24:01.206 --> 24:02.875 so if these guys are comparable-- 24:02.875 --> 24:04.610 and that is a big if-- 24:04.610 --> 24:08.080 they may only have one pup every two years. 24:08.080 --> 24:10.416 Extrapolate that over the life and you'll, you know, 24:10.416 --> 24:13.352 quickly realize the ability of each female 24:13.352 --> 24:16.088 to contribute to the population is limited. 24:16.088 --> 24:17.856 Looks a lot like the mom. 24:17.856 --> 24:21.393 This is where the yolk sac is attached, and that's the... 24:21.393 --> 24:24.330 that's the rest of the yolk that will carry this thing on 24:24.330 --> 24:27.433 for the rest of embryonic development. 24:27.433 --> 24:29.935 >>NARRATOR: Knowing how old the animals can get, 24:29.935 --> 24:33.305 at what age they start to reproduce 24:33.305 --> 24:35.307 and how many offspring they may have 24:35.307 --> 24:37.810 allows scientists to inform life history models 24:37.810 --> 24:39.311 for the animals. 24:39.311 --> 24:44.550 This information is an important tool for fisheries managers. 24:44.550 --> 24:47.453 While deep sea sharks aren't currently targeted 24:47.453 --> 24:49.588 by any fisheries in the United States, 24:49.588 --> 24:54.259 their numbers have declined in other parts of the world. 24:54.259 --> 24:58.030 >>We've seen in Australia, we've seen in the Azores 24:58.030 --> 25:00.966 and Portugal and other places 25:00.966 --> 25:02.735 that where deepwater fisheries have developed 25:02.735 --> 25:06.405 either targeting deepwater sharks or not targeting them 25:06.405 --> 25:09.575 but catching them as by-catch, they've quickly collapsed. 25:11.510 --> 25:14.279 >>NARRATOR: Over the course of this trip, the crew deployed 25:14.279 --> 25:18.217 53 longline and trap sets, covering stations ranging 25:18.217 --> 25:22.321 from 75 to over 2,000 meters deep. 25:22.321 --> 25:27.659 They caught almost 800 fishes and invertebrates, 25:27.659 --> 25:29.762 which will add to their ever-growing database 25:29.762 --> 25:34.166 of deep sea animals in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. 25:34.166 --> 25:38.103 >>The information that will come out of the work 25:38.103 --> 25:39.438 is just phenomenal. 25:39.438 --> 25:43.809 They've already identified some very interesting differences 25:43.809 --> 25:47.980 in community structure that nobody knew about, 25:47.980 --> 25:50.282 and so they'll be able to get at the essence 25:50.282 --> 25:52.518 of what makes those communities so different 25:52.518 --> 25:54.586 based on the behavior of the animals. 25:54.586 --> 25:56.889 It's absolutely cutting edge. 25:56.889 --> 25:58.424 It's marvelous work. 26:17.209 --> 26:20.546 >>Major funding for this program was provided 26:20.546 --> 26:24.983 by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people to preserve 26:24.983 --> 26:29.154 and protect America's underwater resources. 26:31.557 --> 26:33.425 And by Divers Direct, 26:33.425 --> 26:37.425 inspiring the pursuit of tropical adventure scuba diving.