Archive of Spotlight Feature Articles

Again to Galapagos

Science, Education, Outreach and Aliens

By Fred Gorell

When I staff an exhibit booth for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration, I sometimes gather audiences by asking a question. First I announce, "There are robots going to Mars and elsewhere in space looking for signs of life that may be very different from us—alien life." Then I ask, "Do you think we'll find it? Alien life? Life different from us?"

Quite a few little discussions go on resulting in a good number of head-nodding "yes" answers, but there's the "no" crowd too. "Guess what," I say focusing on the children in the group, "We already have, not on Mars but right here on our own planet—in the ocean—in 1977." (This is where my voice gets creepy) "And right now, you are standing less than five feet from alien life different from you."

Some look at the person next to them, and others look at me. "It's not me," I'm quick to add "It's this guy right here." I point to a really large clam shell on the table in front of me that had gone unnoticed. People in the back move a little closer but nobody gets real close. Everyone seems interested in the story, and so I continue. "Until 1977, we thought all life on Earth was like us—life based on sunlight—chemosynthetic life. But in 1977, ocean scientists discovered new animals living around hot springs that flowed from cracks in lava on the seafloor. Far from sunlight, these new animals had lives based on chemicals—chemosynthetic life."

What scientists discovered was stunning, and something so new it was arguably one of the most significant discoveries in modern science. It forever changed our understanding of our planet and life on it. Kathy Crane was one of those scientists. Now in OAR's Arctic Research Office, Kathy was a graduate student in 1977 assigned as navigator for the manned submersible Alvin , on the first submersible expedition to the Galapagos spreading center. She also dived in Alvin as one of the few who had first-ever views of the strange new life around hydrothermal vents in "Rose Garden" named for the areas colorful variety of life. It was there she collected samples of bacteria that lived symbiotically in giant tubeworms, mussels and clams where they processed toxic chemicals into sugar to nourish their hosts. Kathy's experience is one among many described in the book " Sea Legs ," her account of her life as a woman oceanographer.

In May and June 2004, to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic discovery, a team of scientists from NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and several universities revisited the Galapagos Rift. Their technology again included the workhorse submersible Alvin , but they also brought new technology in the form of the Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE), and digital camera systems for night-time remote surveying. The scientists and explorers created new, high-resolution maps of the area, collect biological and mineral samples, and explore for other sites of hydrothermal activity.

The team of scientist-explorers filed daily logs from sea that were posted on oceanexplorer.noaa.gov, updating students, teachers and armchair explorers who became virtual team members. Also on the Web site were lesson plans for teachers. They were all tied to the expedition and to National Science Education Standards, and they came with names such as, "Why Do We Explore," and "AdVENTurous Findings." One lesson plan, created in advance of the mission and named, "Who Promised You a Rose Garden," was a bit of a bad news fortune teller.

A key objective of the cruise was to compare the present state of the famous Rose Garden hydrothermal vent site to the way it was in 1977. The team searched for the Rose Garden vent field but it was gone, apparently covered by a lava flow. While the team searched in vain, they discovered a new community of hydrothermal animals that seemed likely the beginning of a reborn Rose Garden. Aptly, they named the site Rosebud.

From the seafloor, scientists took specimens of giant chemosynthetic clams that measured 9 inches across. Later, the specimens would be named Calyptogena magnifica, and one of them would accompany me to NOAA exhibits. After I told my story about the giant clams, I'd have one more message for those gathered. "If you want to touch the clam shell, you can," I'd say. "Then, when you get home you can tell your friends you touched alien life today, and you'd be telling the truth!"

That brought out a number of smiles, followed by a few kids who came up for a clam touch, and they opened the gates for the rest, young and old. It seems a lot of people want close encounters with alien life, and to live to talk about it. Maybe when they tell their stories, they'll include something about science, and the wonders and great mysteries still hidden by the ocean.

It is certain that the Galapagos has more stories to tell, and scientists on NOAA-supported expeditions this year are at work searching for more answers. In May and June, Tim Shank and Dan Fornari from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joined with others to research hydrothermal vents at Rosebud. It was Shank who obtained the giant clam specimens in 2002 and who shared some with NOAA's Ocean Exploration office.

Returning to Rosebud he said, "There's no other place on the planet like this, yet we know little about how young organisms colonize, assemble, and form new communities."

As you read this—through January 10, a new mission, termed GalAPAGoS Expedition (Galapagos Acoustical, Plumes, and Geobiological Surveys) is underway to explore a 400 km-long section of the Galapagos Spreading Center located above the mantle plume that created the Galapagos Islands. This area is completely unexplored for hydrothermal vents and other fine-scale seafloor features, therefore everything that we map and image will be a new discovery. Using towed near-bottom sonars, hydrothermal plume sensors, and cameras, we seek to uncover hydrothermal, geological and biological responses to magma supply and crustal thickness. Led by University of California at Santa Barbara Professors Rachel Haymon (project chief scientist and lead PI) and Ken Macdonald (co-PI), this mission is jointly funded by NSF and NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration.

What will they find? You can follow the mission at oceanexplorer.noaa.gov and see for yourself. In the meantime, I hope they'll find another strange specimen or two, or light up the dark of the ocean floor for an exciting image of something never before seen. Those are things that fill explorers and scientists with the same kind of joy that makes future scientists and explorers of kids who stop at an exhibit booth to touch an alien clam.

12/12/05

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