HURRICANE CHARLEY CUTS SHORT AQUARIUS UNDERSEA MISSION;
AQUANAUTS PREPARE TO LEAVE UNDERSEA LAB

Aug. 11, 2004 — Hurricane Charley, bearing down on the Florida Keys, caused the cancellation Wednesday of an undersea research mission of NOAA’s underwater laboratory Aquarius. The Aquarius is owned by NOAA and operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. (Click NOAA image for larger view of the undersea lab Aquarius shown here in Conch Reef off the Florida Keys in August 2004. Click here for high resolution version, which is large file. Please credit “NOAA.”)

“We want to make sure none of the aquanauts are in harm’s way when a hurricane or tropical storm is in the area,” said Barbara Moore, director of the NOAA Undersea Research Program. “Decompression began at 4 p.m. today.”

Decompression takes about 17 hours. Scientists and technicians aboard Aquarius, the world’s only underwater laboratory/habitat, engage in saturated diving, which allows them to spend up to 10 days under water without coming to the surface.
(Click NOAA image for larger view of four aquanauts during a recent training mission who are being evacuated from the undersea lab Aquarius due to Hurricane Charley. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please credit “NOAA.”)

Charley is expected to move across the Florida Keys on Friday morning.

“We plan far enough ahead so we can safely complete the decompression process,” Moore said.

The four scientists and two technicians will then return to shore. The team, led by Christopher Marten of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was studying the role of sponges and their role in the coral reef ecosystem, particularly how sponges recycle nitrogen to the reef through their respiration.

Rather than let the aquanauts, who are 60 feet below the surface, ride out a storm, the decision is made to cancel the mission and bring everyone safely to the surface and to shore.

“We hate to do it, but we don’t want to cause any injuries to the aquanauts or damage to Aquarius,” Moore said.

During Hurricane Georges in 1998, 24-foot waves were recorded at Conch Reef, where Aquarius operates.

The last mission to be cancelled because of a hurricane was in October 1999 when Hurricane Irene threatened the Florida Keys.

The next mission aboard Aquarius is slated for mid-September. The NOAA Undersea Research Program is part of NOAA Research.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation’s coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Aquarius

Aquarius August 2004 Mission Pictures

NOAA Undersea Research Program

NOAA Research

Media Contact:
Jana Goldman, NOAA Research, (301) 713-2483 ext. 181