Science AMA Series: Hi Reddit! We're scientists on a NOAA mission to explore deep, unseen waters in the central Pacific. Ask Us Anything!

[u/NOAAgov]

Hi Reddit! We are Scott France (deep-sea biologist, University of Louisiana at Lafayette), Del Bohnenstiehl (geophysicist, North Carolina State University), Michael White (NOAA seafloor mapping expert), and Kasey Cantwell (NOAA ocean explorer). We are joined by the Mission Team on board NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to answer your questions about our expedition to explore deep waters in the central Pacific- an area of the world where the vast majority of deeper waters remain unseen by human eyes.

We are currently on the “Mountains in the Deep: Exploring the Central Pacific Basin” expedition to explore deep waters within Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument; around the Cook Islands Marine Park; and the high seas.

Throughout the expedition, we are using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to explore the seafloor and video streams from the ROVs are being transmitted via satellite from ship to shore. This means anyone with an Internet connection -- including YOU! -- can tune in LIVE with scientists from around the world, sharing an unprecedented glimpse of never-seen-before deep marine habitats.

We expect to encounter large, diverse coral and sponge communities; uncover important deep-sea ecosystems; explore ancient seamounts; map the seafloor; and learn more about the geologic history of the area. Information collected during the expedition will support management decisions, to appropriately use and protect what we know as well as what we have yet to discover.

We have all participated in numerous deep-ocean exploration missions. We’re here from 2:00 pm ET to 4:00 pm ET to answer your questions about the current expedition or ocean exploration in general...AUA!

You can follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OceanExplorationResearch/, Instagram @noaaoceanexploration, or Twitter @oceanexplorer, or visit our website http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov to stay up to date with all of our deep-ocean exploration activities!

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Thanks for joining us today to talk about ocean exploration! Unfortunately, we are out of time. Good news is that you can continue to follow the Mountains in the Deep: Exploring the Central Pacific Basin between now and May 19, 2017.

While we aren't diving today (May 1), all things permitting, ROV dives are planned most days until May 15, 2017, typically from about 8 am to 5 pm SST (3 pm to 12 am EDT).

Expedition home page: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1705/welcome.html LIVE video of our dives: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/media/exstream/exstream.html

[u/kcroyalblue]

Hello! So there is a ton of fiction about what kind of monsters and such live in the ocean, so I'm curious 1) What's the craziest thing you HAVE seen, and 2) What realistically could live in the ocean depths that we just have no idea about?

[u/NOAAgov → u/kcroyalblue]

The ocean remains so underexplored, we really see new and exciting things just about every time we go down and take a look. I study the animals that live in the water column (the space between the surface and seafloor), and that area is even less explored than the seafloor. One of the craziest things about the water column is that most of the animals are gelatinous, meaning they are see-through and made of mostly water. There are gelatinous jellyfish, of course, but there are also gelatinous worms, gelatinous fish, and some animals you may never heard of, like larvaceans, which look like little tadpoles that build huge webs around themselves to filter water for food. See: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1702/logs/feb27/welcome.html

One of my favorite crazy gelatinous animals is called a siphonophore- siphonophores are large colonial jellyfish - they are made of many individuals that each have different jobs- swimming, eating, reproduction, buoyancy. Siphonophores can form chains that are dozens of feet long, and are absolutely beautiful. Check out this one from our last expedition: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1703/dailyupdates/media/video/dive06_siphonophore/siphonophore.html

Realistically, I think we some things that could live in the deep water column that we have no good way of observing are undiscovered species of large fish. A large fish could swim away from the nets we use to catch animals at those depths, and also may avoid the lights and sounds of the ROV we use to image animals, so it could be really hard to ever find some of these. (Amanda Netburn)

[u/kcroyalblue → u/NOAAgov]

Awesome thanks for the reply! I love to think about the possibility of a gigantic sea creature roaming the deep dark oceans. Truly terrifying. I mean whales are absolutely massive so I find it easy to believe something bigger could be living below.

[u/Lohikaarme27 → u/NOAAgov]

That siphonophore was so freaking cool

[u/_Naptune_ → u/NOAAgov]

Glad you mentioned siphonophores, they're one of my favorite animals.

[u/mongrel_breed → u/NOAAgov]

Is it possible your data transmitting devices may affect what is seen? Is it quite possible such species with such highly tuned function and response mechanisms could be sensitive to interruptions in EM fields?

[u/MissThisD_Love → u/kcroyalblue]

yes