Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Scientists from around the world support Aquatilis Expedition
Studying gelata is very interesting and extremely important. These creatures compose a key link in the global food chain and are a great indicator of oceanic health. Despite all this, we only know about 20% of all the living mysteries our oceans hide. This means, about 80% of species (gelata or otherwise) are yet to be discovered, described and photographed.
Most rational non-scientific people who hear us talking in these terms become highly suspicious at this point. It is, after all, difficult to imagine that science has barely scratched the surface of the World Ocean. These rational people ask us politely: «Hasn’t anybody before had the bright idea of studying jellyfish, worms and all those other creepy crawleys? Why is it just you lot?»
Well, of course somebody’s done it before!
Neither are we the first ones to say that the best place to study gelata is in their home — underwater. Their bodies are so ephemeral and fragile that they might not make it through a single touch intact, let alone survive whole series of lab tests! A very talented scientist pioneered scientific diving in the open ocean. His name is William Hamner. Over 40 years ago, he wrote an article together with his colleagues, describing the important of blue water diving for scientific research. The National Science Foundation even named Hamner’s discovery one of the most important steps in open ocean study in the last 50 years! Naturally, we couldn’t resist the urge to invite such a great scientist on board Aquatilis! Bill replied that we’ve got everything right and that, according to our photos, we have our eye on the prize. He confirmed that he’d be delighted to be part of the Expedition. He’s not alone in this either! 8 world-renowned gelata scientists have so far agreed get on board our yacht and join us for the journey that lies ahead.
Two of the scientists supporting us study bioluminescence — Steve Haddock from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and Michael Matz, head of the Matz Lab at the University of Texas. Although these two share a research topic, their approaches are quite different to one another. Like us, Stephen enjoys a good dive, allowing him to meet with gelata face-to-face. He also captures brilliant photographs of siphonophores, radiolaria and jellyfish. Michael’s research is more laboratory-based. In addition to bioluminescence, he and his team study corals, their evolution and the ecology surrounding them.
Sonke Johnsen from the University of South Carolina is also a bioluminescence scholar. He is more curious about the optic side of things: gelata’s transparency and how they capture ultraviolet rays. Sonke never wanted to become a biologist - like some of us, he kind of fell into the field. He’s held a kaleidoscope of jobs in the past and hitchhiked far and wide over the years. So he’s not only a scientist, but a great person to have on board for those quite nights when you’re dying for a good story!
Casey Dunn heads up the “Evolution, Development and Diversity” laboratory at Brown University. Alongside his colleagues, he studies the vast variety of organisms that have inhabited the planet during the evolutionary process. They compare the contemporary history of life on Earth to evolutionary trends. Dunn is a big fan of siphonophores, he knows almost everything about them and loves to photograph them, so we asked him to join us on board (also, he smiles a lot and has a cool beard).
Speaking of smiles, Andre Morandini, a Brazilian scientist with a sunny disposition from the University of Sao Paolo, could be joining us on our journey. For the last 20 years, Andre focuses his studies on a single group of gelata — scyphozoan jellies. This goes to show how much potential for knowledge the World Ocean holds! If you can study one group of animals for two whole decades, imagine how long studying the ocean as a whole would take!
Hopefully, you didn’t think we’re ignoring the Russian scientific community! Quite the opposite, actually, we managed to lure one of our favourite specialists to join us. Anton Chichvarkhin works at the Molecular Systematic Laboratory at the Far Eastern Institute of Marine Biology where he studies Sea Angels and Sea Butterflies. As you know, we have a bit of a soft spot for these creatures!
Aquatilis is, of course, a unique expedition and the first of its kind. But like many unique ventures, it draws inspiration from existing projects. The Tara Expeditions project has inspired us tremendously. Tara is not one, but a series of expeditions conducted by French scientists. It launched in 2003 and its aim is to study the World Ocean and its ecological state. They’ve studied plankton too, but for their own purposes and they didn’t do so all around the world.
Tara Expeditions’ Scientific Director, Christian Sardet, published an extensive and beautiful planktonic atlas which, of course, included our pictures of worms and jellies. Christian is extremely supportive of our project and promises to lend us a hand. We secretly hope that we will meet a Tara Expeditions vessel in the midst of the ocean to have a drink or two together, toasting to our planet’s wellbeing.
There are several dozen institutes and research laboratories that study the ocean as a whole and particularly planktonic organisms. Hundreds of committed and experienced scientists around the globe research different types of gelata, their specificities and their roles in nature. Yet the ocean remains practically unstudied. The undersea world is mysterious and almost endless. We’d love to unite the capabilities of as many experts as possible to wipe out as many blind spots as we can.The undersea world is mysterious and almost endless. We’d love to unite the capabilities of as many experts as possible to wipe out as many blind spots as we can.
