Introduction from the “Front End” 30 Years of Archiving MMS Marine Invertebrates at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History First: Why does MMS collect samples from the oceans?  To identify what kinds of animals live there,  Determine the sensitivity of each kind of biological community,  Allows management decisions on how to best protect the environment from possible impacts of offshore energy development You have to know what is there and how each part of all ocean habitats interact with each other so the environment can be protected

Scientific Research on the Oceans is Not Easy  Research Vessels Submersibles Submersibles Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) Ocean Science is Difficult Due to remoteness/water depth/weather Due to remoteness/water depth/weather Time Consuming Time Consuming Very expensive Very expensive High level of expertise needed at every stage High level of expertise needed at every stage

Quick introduction to some of the methods used to obtain invertebrate samples  Box Cores  Trawls  Winches

Sampling from the Surface  Box Cores  Typically ¼ or ½ meter square  For sampling of soft sediment seabed  Mud sieved for “infauna: or animals that live buried in the sediment

Two major size categories of sediment infauna (larger than bacteria) Macrofauna from larger portion of box core Larger than 300 microns = 3/10 millimeter Meiofauna from smaller sub-cores between 62 and 300 microns Just 2/1000 th of an inch

 Trawls Typically use common otter trawl similar to ones used for shrimp Starfish, shrimp and sea cucumbers from 3,900 ft Foot long “pill bug” Bathynomous from 4,360 ft

 Winches Typical winch speed about 50 meters per minute up and down Deepest part of Gulf of Mexico 3,800 m = 12,464 feet Time for one 30 minute trawl at 3,800 meters = Over 7 hours Single vertical box core drop to 3,000 m = Over 2 hours Sometimes a deep-sea trawl comes up empty! Sometimes a box core “washes out” at the surface Requires starting all over again

 and Expensive! Large research vessel alone R/V Melville Scripps Institution $39,000/day ROV Jason and crew $10,000/day R/V Atlantis II and Alvin submersible $60,000/day

A National Treasure  All of the MMS studies resulting in archive samples at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History took years to complete.  Each project was a tremendous effort by dozens of scientists.  The resulting sample collections represent a national treasure of biological knowledge that would be impossible to replace.  These MMS studies have enabled informed protection of the environment while providing invaluable collections to the U.S. and the rest of the world.