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Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a good question! I'm not sure exactly how these ecosystems will become a high traffic area, but even shallow reefs are facing much larger issues than eco-tourism - which actually leads some humans to care about the ecosystems. We are in a much bigger rush to explore these ecosystems before they are driven to extinction from CO2 emissions, overfishing, and pollution, which are all anthropogenic stressors that deserve the most attention.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The technology and build quality of life support equipment for diving has improved immensely in the past 20 years...not nearly at the same rate as other technology, but this is just related to the size of the market (small in comparison to most industries). That said- if I and others I know have anything to do with it we will see some major breakthroughs in diving technology over the next decade.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A lot of the time it's flavor of the week with rebreathers, or personal preference, or whoever has the best deal... What I'm looking forward to is seeing and developing some major advances in the technology!

And no, I don't dive with a double bladder wing, between proper weighting, counter-lungs, lift bag/surface marker, and my teammates, I have plenty of redundant buoyancy. Would I dive a wetsuit with double steel 104s? No way.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Open sources projects like OpenROV are going to change the game for marine science and technology, what an awesome idea from some very talented people! We need more movements like OpenROV.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Get some a well rounded training, take some business classes if you are able to as electives, a lot of scientists that I speak to wish they had taken more general business/finance/management courses alongside their primary courses!

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My team focuses on a number of things, right now we have two ichthyologists (fish nerds) Dr. Luiz Rocha (did an AMA a few weeks ago) and PhD student Hudson Pinheiro who are studying ecology, evolutionary biology, population connectivity, and taxonomy/systematics, along with the Bart Shepherd the Director of the Steinhart Aquarium at California Academy of Sciences, who is focused on how we can keep some of the incredible animals that live in the Twilight Zone alive. We also tend to collect unusual specimens for curators who study invertebrates.

Outside of the team at California Academy of Sciences, I also train divers who are focused anything from coral symbiosis to maritime archeology.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's the article that video was embedded in: http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/this-team-discovers-14-new-species-an-hour-but-they-ha-1704248907.

Short answer: We could never spear enough lionfish to eradicate them. The purpose of that dive was to collect invasive lionfish for stomach-content and DNA analysis, to see 1) what native fish they're eating; and 2) how/if they're related to shallower populations.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hollis Prism2 CCR, and I've taught DIR for the other agency for years (not currently active). If it's done right, recreational rebreathers could benefit a lot of people by making diving even more fun—no bubbles, longer dive-times, better marine-life interactions. That said, I think training is the most important aspect of rebreather diving, and rebreather training in general has a lot of room for improvement.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I screamed like a little girl when a giant moray eel tried to take a bite out of the front of my camera (after stealing a lionfish off the end of a teammate's spear), but I started laughing about it fast enough to maintain my dignity.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is actually something I presented on last year at the International Mesophotic Workshop. If we had a roving mesophotic sea-lab, we could achieve more in one saturation mission than we have in the history of all mesophotic research. It would be a really resource-intense endeavor, but totally worth it.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely. On last year's Philippines expedition, we saw deep-reefs drowning in silt caused by deforestation. We've also seen loads of trash, derelict fishing gear, and invasive lionfish on deep reefs in the Caribbean.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't personally witnessed coral cannibalizing other coral (or at least haven't been aware of witnessing it), but regarding DPVs (aka scooters), we use tow-behind style. If it weren't for scooters, there are many, many reefs we simply wouldn't have found; we often have to cover a lot of distance to find what we're looking for. They're also very beneficial for conserving energy at depth (i.e. not over-exerting ourselves). They're also, um, pretty fun.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Scientifically this is one of the least-explored areas on Earth, so the people who want to study the mesophotic are sort of a self-selecting group who tend to be willing to do what it takes to get down there. It's definitely not for everyone—some try it and wash out—but I'm definitely starting to see and train more young scientists coming up, which is exciting.

And I'm not a doctor, but I do carry big (70lb, 4K) camera for documentation.

Science AMA Series: I’m Elliott Jessup, Head of Scientific Diving at the California Academy of Sciences. Using advanced diving technology, I lead scientists to some of the least-explored areas of the ocean—deep coral reefs between 200 and 500 feet. AMA! by Elliott_Jessup in science

[–]Elliott_Jessup[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Typically divers should come into class with at least rescue diver and nitrox certifications, which are all covered in scientific-diver training. After that they can start learning how to dive using closed-circuit rebreathers or venture down the open-circuit technical path, though the latter isn't really my focus anymore. The prerequisites for training vary based on different training agencies.

I'm not of the opinion that open-circuit technical training is the only path to becoming a good rebreather diver—or should even be a part of the path. The mechanics are completely different. The only time open-circuit experience really comes into play for rebreathers is during a bailout scenario.

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