Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CRES)-Maui 2011

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A team of rebreather divers conducted a coordinated dive with the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory's "Pisces V" submersible, to a depth of 290 feet off Maui. This was the first time such a coordinated diver/submersible research dive has been conducted in Hawaii, and it was funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CRES) Program. The submersible was piloted by HURL's veteran sub pilot Terry Kerby, with science observers Brian Popp and Andrea Grottoli onboard. The rebreather dive team included University of Hawaii graduate student Christina ("CJ") Bradley, UH Dive Safety Officer Dave Pence, and Bishop Museum researchers Ken Longenecker and Richard Pyle (videographer). The purpose of the dive was to set up an experiment for part of CJ's graduate research, to tag a series of corals with stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon, in both an exposed and darkened environment, to determine the extent to which the Leptoseris corals at these depths feed on plankton vs. through the photosynthesis of the zooxanthellae. We will continue to sample these corals more over the coming days.

DAY 1

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DAY 11