Monitor Expedition 2012
June 18-22
Monitor Collection, NOAA
The Under Pressure will be doing one Monitor Expedition during the summer of 2012. To learn more about the Monitor please visit the following sites:
http://monitor.noaa.gov/imagery/welcome.html
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/monitor01/background/plan/plan.html
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02monitor/welcome.html
Mission Statement:
Pterois volitans of the family Scorpaenidae is endemic to the Indo-Pacific region. Commonly called the red lionfish, this species has become commonplace on the wrecks and reefs of the southeastern United States, including off the coast of North Carolina. Very little is known about their potential impact on native vertebrate and invertebrate species of the western Atlantic. The purpose of this study is to determine population sizes of P. volitans on various wrecks off the North Carolina coast. The U.S.S. Monitor is being used as a natural control for this study as fishing and other recreational uses are either banned or highly restricted. Endemic species diversity will also be measured on the Monitor and other wrecks and reefs to determine if there can be found any correlations between P. volitans population sizes and or recreational uses and endemic species diversity.
tMThere are eight red lionfish in the photo below taken on the shipwreck Malchase in Hatteras,NC.
Expedition Leader Capt JT Barker
Capt JT Barker has been a licensed captain for over 19 years. He is an avid Wreck Diver, Trimix Deep Diver, Cave Diver, and Adventure Seeker. He started running dive trips in 1994, has dived and led trips to many prestigious sites such as: Andrea Doria, E.M. Clark, Bow Mariner, and the famous wrecks of the Billy Mitchell Fleet, which includes the German Battleship Ostfriesland 380ft and Light Cruiser Frankfurt 420ft. Capt JT is presently exploring new virgin wrecks in VA/NC in the 300ft range while running dive charters for all levels of divers on his vessel the "Under Pressure". Capt JT holds himself to the highest standards of safety and leadership; his focus on risk management ensures that his trips are conducted safely. With all of Capt JT's diving accomplishments he is just as happy diving 100ft.
Diving: Experience is more valuable than money, the price one pays for that experience is unmeasureable.
Dr. Thomas R. Sawicki earned his Ph.D. from Old Dominion University in 2004 in Ecological Sciences. He has described numerous new species and genera of animals within the Order Amphipoda from caves throughout the world. His current primary research interests involve the systematics and trophic structure of the fauna of the Floridan aquifer.
Dr. Sawicki is the lead scientist for the Monitor expedition and will be coordinating the efforts to quantify the vertebrate species diversity on the Monitor and to determine population numbers for the red lionfish (Pterois volitans). These efforts are part of a larger research project to determine the affect P. volitans is having on endemic species diversity on the reefs of North Carolina. The Monitor will act as a natural control for these studies as fishing and other recreational uses are restricted or greatly limited.
Dr. Sawicki has over 30 years of diving experience. He has conducted numerous scientific cave diving expeditions including the discovery of new species in Bermuda, Cuba and Florida. He has also taken part in expeditions to document the German battleship SMS (later USS) Ostfriesland with depths to 380 ft and unidentified shipwrecks in depths exceeding 300 ft.
The USS Monitor will always remain his favorite dive but coming in a close second he considers N. Carolina’s EM Clark, Canada’s Jodery and Egypt’s SS Thistlegorm as “must not miss dives” for any avid wreck diver. Michael has joined Capt. JT and Dr. Sawicki on other deep wreck expeditions including the “Unknown wreck”, an as yet unidentified wreck at a depth of 300 ft.
He continues to teach scuba diving as a PADI instructor since 1988, cave dive and travel with his wife Parker, also an active scuba diver.
Michael Schlink
While earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at the University of Michigan in the early 1990’s, Scott Powell found time to become a certified diver. Upon relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina, he completed his Master’s (also in Political Science) while working at a local dive center. Soon his passion for diving superseded his original career goals.
In 2000 Mr. Powell purchased Down Under Surf & SCUBA and became a dive instructor. The following decade proved a productive, and busy one, as Mr. Powell quickly built upon experience to become an active technical instructor and cave diver. Meanwhile, Down Under Surf & Scuba passed the 5000 certified divers mark and was recognized as amongst the top 10% of PADI dive centers in the US.
While overseeing retail and training operations at Down Under, Mr. Powell has focused on training technical divers, with an eye on thoroughness and safety above all else. Recent dive expeditions have included trips to the Wilkes Barre, USS Oriskany, and Hydro-Atlantic. This will be his first expedition to the USS Monitor.
Scott Powell
Bobby Duncan
Diving for 8 years & having gone through all the training & put in the dives to gain the experience to get the chance to dive the Monitor.
Some favorite sites dove include the EM Clark and Far East Tanker off Cape Hatteras, NC along with dives in VA Beach such as the Ocean Venture & night diving the Eureka.
Looking forward to the next challenge of the Monitor.
Bobby Duncan
Dan Wright
Has a BA degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, in Communication Arts & Design, with a dual emphasis on both still photography and motion picture production
For more info: http://www.wrightcreativeservices.com/about.html
Dan Wright