High-Tech Research Ship Set to Explore North Bay Seafloor

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Scientists getting ready to embark on an expedition to study the ocean depths off the coast of Northern California are inviting the public to come along.

It is the Research Vessel Nautilus, a specially designed ship outfitted with "remote-operated vehicles" with high-definition cameras. The video they capture is stunning.

"I can't look away from the RS cam," a researcher can be heard saying in one of the videos.  "There's just so many different types of sponges and…wow!"

The Nautilus has for different sized ROV's that will assist in the exploration. When they light up the inky depths, you can hear the excitement in the scientists' voices.

"Whoaaaa! What is that?" a group of scientists say as a weird, ghost-like creature floats past. "That is so cool!  What are we looking at? The ghost of Pacman. Righhht! It's gotta be a jelly…"

"That's one of the most exciting things about exploration," said Nautilus Expedition leader Nicole Raineault. "We never know what we're going to find and we have a network of experts who are either onshore or here with us that can help explain it."

Starting Friday, the Nautilus will begin a week-long exploration of the deep-sea coral beds off the coast of Sonoma and Mendocino counties.  At 2,000 meters deep, it is an area that has never been comprehensively explored and marine sanctuary officials say it will help them to better manage the ecosystem.

"The information really helps support a good understanding of the condition and the health, the status and trends of our marine sanctuaries," said Jan Roletto, Research Coordinator for the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

"Our first goal is to understand what species are there and to characterize the environment they live in so that we can understand how that may be changing, how we at National Marine Sanctuaries may be able to protect those animals," said Danielle Lipsky with the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

But here's the best part: the public can watch it as it is happening. The ship streams its cameras live, 24 hours a day, usually with mics open so you can hear the scientists as they talk about what they're seeing. And people can even text in comments or questions.

"They're able to help us in case we find something that nobody onboard can explain," said expedition leader Raineault, "or just to ask us questions about our jobs.  We love to be on watch in helping explain the science that we do to the public."

After the North Coast mission, the Nautilus will head to Monterey for its last expedition of the season where it will study the depths off the coast of Big Sur.

The ship and its missions are supported by the Ocean Exploration Trust, an organization started by Dr. Robert Ballard, the man who helped locate the RMS Titanic.

If you want to observe in the North Coast expedition, click on www.nautiluslive.org.