News Releases

Scientists discover trove of deep-sea life off T&T’s East Coast

For Release Upon Receipt - October 10, 2014

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – Lecturer at The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine, Dr. Judith F. Gobin was part of a team of international scientists that made the exciting discovery of  four new deep-sea cold seeps approximately 130km off the East coast of Trinidad and Tobago this week. Hundreds of thousands of 8-inch-long deep-sea mussels, metre-long tubeworms, pink shrimp, snails and fish were found living around the seeps at 1200m depth.

This is the first time that local scientists have taken part in a deep-sea science mission in T&T and the first time an entire expedition was broadcast live on the Internet. The expedition was led by US-based seafloor exploration non-profit, the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET).

Dr. Gobin, lecturer in Marine Ecology/Coastal Ecosystems Management in the Department of Life Sciences, was selected to join the seven-day deep-sea exploratory mission on board the Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus from October 2 to 9, 2014. Dr. Diva Amon, a fellow Trinidadian and deep-sea biologist, currently working at the University of Hawaii, was also a member of the science team.

Cold seeps are areas where fluids rich in methane and hydrogen sulphide seep from the seafloor. This fluid provides the energy to sustain extensive communities of life in the lightless, hot and high pressure conditions that exist in the deep sea. At cold seeps, bacteria create organic carbon via chemosynthesis in the absence of light, using the chemicals in the fluid in a similar way to how plants use sunlight at the sea surface for photosynthesis. These microbes use the oxygen in seawater to oxidise the chemicals present in the seep fluids and form the basis of a deep-sea food chain. The bacteria form thick white mats or live endosymbiotically (inside) species of mussels, tubeworms and clams, providing food directly. Other organisms such as snails and shrimp seen at the new sites may feed directly on the bacterial mats, in turn providing food for eelpout fish, crabs and other predators.

“I am extremely excited to have been part of this expedition, which has discovered several new cold-seep sites and accompanying seep communities, as well as to be doing this cutting-edge exploration and science in Trinidad and Tobago’s waters,” said Dr. Gobin. “The deep-sea environment holds the key to understanding how life exists and is sustained under these extreme conditions.”

Dr. Amon hopes that this is just the beginning for deep-sea science in T&T, especially given the large deep-sea resources of oil and natural gas in our country’s waters. Although French scientists worked in areas close-by in the late 1980s, this was the first time local scientists have taken part, and the first time the entire expedition was broadcasted live on the Internet.

Dr. Gobin expects to collaborate with Dr. Amon, as well as other team members of the Ocean Exploration Trust towards continued research and exploration of T&T’s exciting and unexplored deep seas in the future. She was extremely happy for the opportunity to fly The UWI flag, and with Dr. Amon, the T&T flag. She expressed her gratitude to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, especially the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Transport and the Maritime Services Division, and thanked the OET and the E/V Nautilus crew for the amazing opportunity.

Dr. Gobin was previously on board the ship in 2013 exploring the submarine volcano, Kick’em Jenny, off Grenada. That expedition also proved extremely exciting with the discovery of new cold-seep environments. This year, the team again returned to those sites from September 26 to October 1, where they discovered several more cold seeps harbouring the largest specimens of Bathymodiolus mussels known to science, including the largest at 36.6cm.

The E/V Nautilus is a 64m research vessel operated by Dr. Robert Ballard and his Ocean Exploration Trust team. The ship carries with it two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) named Hercules and Argus which explore the seafloor and can be viewed in real-time online. The EV Nautilus can be followed in real-time via www.nautiluslive.org and for more information on OET, please visit: www.oceanexplorationtrust.com

 

About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. Website: www.uwi.edu

 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

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