CE13008 Celtic Explorer Biodiscovery and Ecosystem Function of Canyons Survey 2013

This three week research survey led by National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) took place on board the Marine Institute's R.V. Celtic Explorer in June/July 2013. The Biodiscovery and Ecosystem Function of Canyons Survey investigated a wide diversity of habitats and underwater communities in the Whittard Canyon system on the Irish Atlantic margin. Whittard Canyon is one of many subsea canyons that incise the eastern margin of the North Atlantic. The research team used the Marine Institute’s Deepwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), Holland 1, to collect to specimens of coral, sponges, sediment samples and other marine organisms. CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth) profiles were conducted at the ROV stations. This survey was conducted as part of an ongoing effort to understand Ireland’s deep-sea biodiversity. SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES (i) identify and map benthic macrofauna using conventional cores and ROV surveys; (ii) improve systematic knowledge of Porifera and Mollusca, groups with known biodiscovery potential, using traditional morphological techniques in combination with molecular biology; (iii) collect marine specimens for freeze-drying, the preparation of extracts in the MI Marine Biodiscovery Laboratory and screening of bioactivity within the Beaufort Biodiscovery Consortium; (iv) collect deep-sea sediment likely to harbour micro-organisms capable of producing novel bioactives; (v) collect marine specimens likely to have novel photoactive molecules; (vi) characterize bacterial and archaeal diversity in deep sea water and sediment samples over spatial and temporal scales; and (vii) collect marine invertebrate samples (particularly sponges), seawater samples, and marine sediment to study and compare the microbiota associated with each of the samples, culture microorganisms and construct metagenomic libraries.