Assessing the Health and Possible Harm from
Discarded Dredge Material
DISCOVERY Yacht Santosha
Fort Lauderdale, FL
December 11, 2021
Research Team
Dr. Paul Arena, Ph.D.; Michael McDonough, M.S. Candidate; Rose Leegei, B.S.
Purpose of Research
The purpose of this study is to observe the impact of dredging Port Everglades on the health of surrounding Florida reefs.
Duration of Project
2018 - Present
Project Overview
On December 11th, The International SeaKeepers Society assisted Nova Southeastern University’s Professor Paul Arena, and student researchers Rose Leegei and Michael McDonough to deploy a commercial grade mini ROV from DISCOVERY Vessel, Santosha. Their eventual aim is to provide information on the fish communities that utilize a relatively unknown and unexplored deep water habitat. Due to its depth, SCUBA surveys are restricted, thus an ROV unit could be utilized to record video surveys of these areas. The goal is to compare fish assemblages associated with various benthic habitats in the mesophotic zone. Recent bathymetric mapping and submersible dives have discovered an area of deep reef covered by spoil produced by the dredging of the Port Everglades Inlet. Areas to the North and South of this buried area remain unaffected and in a natural condition.
This was the eighth outing of the project and these surveys will continue on a monthly basis. This was also the first time (and certainly not the last) working with new DISCOVERY Yacht Fleet member Darin Artman, the owner and operator of D/V Santosha. We're looking forward to future outings aboard Santosha.
Application
Long term, data collected in this study can be used in the future to implement more informed dredging procedures in order to minimize the destruction on surrounding reefs and protect the overall health of local marine ecosystems.
Short term, the graduate students helping to conduct this research have presented the results of their work to Professor Arena’s Bio 3200 Ecology class since 2019. The last meeting of the course focuses on ecological research and the ROV study, impacting the next generation of marine scientists.
Expedition Goal
The goal of this expedition is to use the video footage from the ROV deployment to compare fish assemblages and observe fish communities in a relatively unknown and unexplored deep-water habitat.
Location
Port Everglades Inlet
Partner Sites
Video
