DeepSee Submersible Pilot's Report - Cocos Island Costa Rica August 2013

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Location
Cocos Island, Costa Rica
# of dives
I'm a Fish!
DeepSee Submersible Pilot's Report
Cocos Island, Costa Rica July 28 - August 7 2013



Photo by the DeepSee Submersible of a transparent octopus -vitrelladonella Richardi

There is another world that exists below the ripples and waves of the sea. Changes at these depths are taking place constantly and what is causing those changes are very much a mystery, as are the effects it has on deep sea ecosystems. With the DeepSee Sub we are able to pay attention to these changes and supply evidence of how the deep dark waters are effected in order to determine correlation and causation.

To supply the necessary information needed to interpret these changes, the DeepSee team is working with University of Costa Rica's CIMAR department. Lead by Professor Jorge Cortez, CIMAR has given us 2 temperature sensors that log temperature variations in deep water habitats. Once retrieved, the data from these sensors will be downloaded to a computer for analysis. One sensor has been placed at 74m and the other at 157m. The goal is to evaluate the temperature over time and match it with other variables such as current, time of day, marine life and more.

And while we are on the subject of marine life, it's important to note that we saw a lot of it this week! The first was the reappearance of a whale shark on the Everest Seamount at 60m and though this is a rare sight it’s the 3rd sighting in one month. Perhaps temperature changes play a role? Encounters with whale sharks in the DeepSee usually occurs in shallow waters, where the scuba divers dwell.

On the ledge of The Wall at 200m we saw a very rare grey colored pelagic stingray with a very primitive appearance. The most impressive creature we saw this trip was the deep water transparent octopus (vitrelladonella richardi). You might remember it from our previous encounter back in May 2012.

This creature has evidently evolved perfectly in order to adapted to a life in the deep open ocean. Completely transparent except for the suction cups, brain, eyes and other organs. The brain and the eyes in particular are amazing in that they are elongated and oriented vertically so they cast no shadow, which is a common survival technique we’ve seen on other species of the depth. To observe such creature is a life changing event, we can only wonder how long it took nature to create such an animal.

We continue to explore the depths hoping to find more and more of these alien life forms - The pilots.

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