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NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration Quick Look Report

Expedition Title: Regional Productivity of the Northwestern Hawaiian
islands

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| Results (please  | Details (please describe any novel discoveries in |
| check all        | the discipline, answers such as "possible,        |
| disciplines in   | awaiting data analysis" and "no apparent          |
| which this       | discoveries" are acceptable)                      |
| cruise collected |                                                   |
| data)            |                                                   |
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| Bathymetric      | (please note total area mapped and technology     |
| Mapping          | employed, e.g. multibeam, side scan, etc.)        |
|                  |                                                   |
|  Yes X No       |                                                   |
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| New Species      | (please note number, type, and significance ,i.e. |
| Discovered       | radically new vs. slight adaptation of known      |
|                  | species)                                          |
| X Yes  No       |                                                   |
|                  | Two of the species encountered could potentially  |
|                  | be new species, one a squid and the other a       |
|                  | wrasse. The squid is thought to be something      |
|                  | close to *Joubiniteuthis* and the wrasse might be |
|                  | a juvenile stage of *Bodianus cylindriatus.*      |
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| Bio-prospecting  | (please note number, type, and potential use of   |
|                  | new compounds discovered)                         |
|  Yes X No       |                                                   |
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| Habitat Range    | (please note species discovered in new habitats   |
| Extended         | and how far from previous range were they found0  |
|                  |                                                   |
| X Yes  No       | All of the dives were in previously unexplored    |
|                  | areas working as far 400 miles further northwest  |
|                  | in the archipelago than has ever been done with a |
|                  | research submersible.                             |
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| Chemical         | (please note new or unusual chemical properties   |
| Processes        | such as methane seeps, hypersaline pools, vents,  |
|                  | etc. observed)                                    |
|  Yes X No       |                                                   |
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| Geologic         | (please note new or unusual geologic processes    |
| Processes        | that may impact scientific understanding of the   |
|                  | region)                                           |
|  Yes X No       |                                                   |
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| Physical         | (please note new or unusual oceanographic         |
| Processes        | processes that may impact scientific              |
|                  | understanding of the region)                      |
| X Yes  No       |                                                   |
|                  | This project attempted to link the subphotic fish |
|                  | community (density, size structure, and biomass)  |
|                  | with differences in regional oceanic              |
|                  | productivity, analysis is in process.             |
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| Sub/ROV/AUV      | (please note name, type, and cumulative hours of  |
| Dives            | bottom time for each platform / if available      |
|                  | please provide average working time per dive for  |
| X Yes  No       | each platform / please note if new depth records  |
|                  | were set)                                         |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | *Pisces IV* submarine (7 dives for a total of 56  |
|                  | hours) and the *RCV-150* ROV (3 dives for a total |
|                  | of 8 hours)                                       |
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| New Technology   | (please note any new tools developed for or       |
|                  | during this cruise, also identify first use of an |
|  Yes X No       | existing technology in a new application)         |
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| Maritime         | (please note discoveries impacting knowledge of   |
| Cultural         | the past, i.e. number and type of shipwrecks)     |
| Heritage         |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
|  Yes X No       |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Outreach         | (please describe outreach channels, e.g. web,     |
|                  | port call, etc., used in this project)            |
| X Yes  No       |                                                   |
|                  | Outreach channels included, submissions to the OE |
|                  | webpage, participation in the port call event,    |
|                  | newspaper releases and collaboration with         |
|                  | National Geographic Television to develop a       |
|                  | production documenting the expedition.            |
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| Students         | (please note the number and level of students on  |
| Involved         | the expedition)                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
|  Yes X No       |                                                   |
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| M                | (please identify the formal disciplines           |
| ultidisciplinary | represented in the science party)                 |
|                  |                                                   |
| X Yes  No       | Biology, Fisheries, Protected species, and        |
|                  | Geography                                         |
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| Exploration of   | (please note if the area of operations had been   |
| New Regions      | previously studied, if so please check no and     |
|                  | approximate as slight, moderate or significant,   |
| X Yes  No       | the level of knowledge before the cruise)         |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | The subphotic depths at the north end of the NWHI |
|                  | has never been visually surveyed prior to this    |
|                  | expedition.                                       |
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Ocean Exploration Quick Look Report Required Elements

The Office of Ocean Exploration (OE) does not require a specific Quick
Look Report format. Reports submitted under other requirements (e.g.
Cruise Summary Report (CSR) or Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated
Investigations (FOCI)) are acceptable. In all cases Quick Look Reports
submitted to OE should contain the following elements:

**Project title** - Regional Productivity of the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands

**Principal Investigator and institution** Frank Parrish, Pacific Island
Fisheries Science Center

**Expedition title** NWHI expedition leg 1

# Expedition dates and itinerary September 3 to September 26 2003

# Chief Scientist and institution Same

# Co-sponsors / partners / participating organizations National Geographic Television 

# 

# Vesssel Identification (if applicable) KOK

# Embarked vehicles, sensors, and tools of significance Pisces IV, V and RCV-150

**Geographic area of operations** Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 26°
13.32 174° 30.92 to 28° 58.048 179° 32.592

# Summary of Cruise Objectives Exploration of subphotic fish and habitat communities

**Summary of Cruise** See HURL quick look reports for each of the
dives,- these were provided to participating OE staff at the end of the
cruise leg.

**Milestones Achieve** This exploration provided us the first look at
the most remote seamounts in the NWHI. This project also leveraged
previous submarine surveys further south in the archipelago providing a
comparison of fish assemblages across a range of oceanographic
productivity. Comparisons at subphotic depths removes many of the
confounding variables of photosysthesis and varied habitat types that
cause problems in studies of fish communities in shallow depths. This
comparison will test a prevailing hypothesis on regional productivity in
the NWHI which will be particularly helpful in considerations of
carrying capacity for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.

# Sample log entries

**Summary of Digital Data Collected** High resolution video (VX2000) was
collected on all submarine dives and copies were provided to
participating OE staff at the end of the cruise leg.

# Summary of outreach and educational activities Outreach activities included involvement with the OE webpage, participation in the port call event and collection of material for a National Geographic Television production.