Greg McFall – NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
Today we’re diving at Maro Reef. The reef was "discovered" (see previous comment on 'discovery' of reefs in the archipelago) in 1820 by Captain Joseph Allen who named it after the ship under his command at the time; the "Maro." Maro is the largest reef in Papahānaumokuākea, covering nearly 750 square miles but with nearly no emergent dry land. My dive buddies today are Dr. Kelly Gleason, Maritime Archaeologist for the Monument and Dr. Randy Kosaki who is the Deputy Superintendent of the Monument and serves as Chief Scientist for the cruise. As we descend through the clear blue water on our first dive site we see an underwater ridge at about one hundred and fifteen feet adjacent to a slope which rises at about a forty-five degree incline to about fifty feet. The rock which makes up the ridge is very old and there is quite a lot of coral cover on top. Randy and Kelly start their data transect to count fish species and to take pictures of the seafloor. I try to stay out of the way so as not to negatively influence their data collection.
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| Dr. Randy Kosaki conducting fish survey on Maro Reef |
If you’ve ever wondered what it must be like to be an alien on a different planet, you should try diving in a place as remote as this. While some creatures eschew your presence, others appear to be utterly fascinated with you being there. We dive into areas that most people have not seen and where most of the creatures living there have never encountered an organism like us. First of all, we must make a lot of noise in an otherwise relatively quiet environment; sure you hear the popping and clicking of the "snapping shrimp" and the occasional grunting from damselfishes but nothing can be as noisy as these "things" which produce bubbles. It’s odd that when you are diving you don’t really focus on listening to your own bubbles but listen to a few minutes of videotape and it’s all you hear. To the organisms that detect pressure changes very well, it must be rather obvious that we're in the area.
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Dr. Randy Kosaki and a Spotted Moray
on Maro Reef |
As scientists, we're always taught not to attribute human characteristics to non-human organisms (anthropomorphism) but one can't help wondering what they are thinking or how and why their behavior changes when they see you. We're often escorted to the bottom by Ulua (Giant Trevally) who must see us as the most awkward creatures to inhabit, if but for a brief period, the ocean. Compared to them we must seem incredibly slow and inefficient. There are typically Galapagos sharks in the vicinity which glide effortlessly through the water and come by to see if we might be something to augment or slake their hunger, that never turns out to be the case of course but you can't blame them for investigating as they never know from where their next good meal might come. They are so "good natured" that one might be enticed to say "they appear to be very well mannered and respect our presence" when in fact they don’t get to be big by being overly curious; inquisitiveness satisfied, they appear to be content to just accompany us and see what we might "scare up." Once we arrive at the seafloor, there are a host of other seemingly curious creatures alert to our presence. On this particular dive Randy was nearing the end of his transect, got my attention and started pointing excitedly at clump of coral. As I got closer, I saw the subject of his enthusiasm; a spotted moray eel was peering out of the coral. The eel sat there for about two minutes as Randy and I admired it and took a few pictures. It did not come all the way out of its hiding spot but just turned and looked at us both as if to say "I have no idea what you are but I've never seen anything like you in my life!" Later in the dive we encountered a large spiny lobster who had much the same reaction. It came right out from under its ledge to "sense" what we were with its long antennae; once it figured out we were not something good to eat nor did we provide any better habitat than that in which it currently resided, it returned to its ledge.
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| Lobster on Maro Reef |
On the way back to the surface, escorted again by Ulua and Galapagos sharks, you can witness more curiosities if you are actively looking for them. The most conspicuous bird here appears to be the booby which will land in the water close to where the divers are surfacing and peer into the water seemingly to discern what we are doing down there. It is very amusing to observe from the surface (more so from below) as they will look underwater at the divers and the ascending bubbles and then look up at their cohorts as if to say "You’re not going to believe this!" and immediately look down in the water again as if they can't believe for themselves what they just witnessed. While I understand that these creatures are not here for our amusement one can't help but appreciate them not only for what they are but for what they mean and bring to us all in whatever form it comes; especially when what they do brings a smile to your face and if it means enough to imprint upon you a meaningful memory of the incredible creatures of this special place.
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