Media representatives will have an opportunity to speak with participants of
the Oculina Coral Banks Project at the Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU)
docking port on Monday, April 28.

NASA/KSC is participating in an undersea expedition to characterize the
condition of the deep-sea coral reefs and reef fish populations in the
Oculina Banks marine protected area, 20 miles offshore of the east coast of
Florida. Scientists on the team, will be deploying an underwater robot, a
seafloor sampler, and a Passive Acoustic Monitoring System (PAMS),
originally developed by NASA to monitor the impact of rocket launches on
wildlife refuge lagoons at KSC.

The research is sponsored by NOAA Fisheries and will take place onboard the
Liberty Star, the NASA Space Shuttle support ship operated by United Space
Alliance. The ship will depart from Port Canaveral April 29 and will return
on May 9.

The Oculina Banks stretch 30 miles offshore from Ft. Pierce to Cape
Canaveral, Fla., and includes the East Coast’s first Marine Protected Area
(MPA). The ivory tree coral, Oculina varicosa, has constructed various
mounds and ridges in water depths of 150 to 300 feet underneath the Gulf
Stream and is critical habitat for more than 70 fish species, including
declining snapper and grouper stocks. Unfortunately, trawling over the past
30 years has reduced much of the coral reef habitat to fields of rubble.
The team will use a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to study unexplored
sites identified during the 2002 acoustic mapping survey, also done onboard
the Liberty Star, in the hopes of finding the last of the live coral banks.

Participating in the overview will be:

  • Andrew Shepard, Expedition Leader, National Undersea Research Center, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, NC, (NURC/UNCW)

  • John Reed, Co-Principal Investigator, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution

  • Lance Horn, ROV Operator, National Undersea Research Center, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, NC, (NURC/UNCW)

  • Leslie Sautter, Geologist, College of Charleston, SC

  • Michael Lane, acoustics engineer, NASA, Spaceport Engineering & Technology, KSC

During the mission, students will be able to ask scientists questions, view
a live webcast and read the daily logs produced onboard the Liberty Star.
The webcast co-sponsored by NASA’s Oceanography Program, KSC’s Telescience
Lab and NURC/UNCW will take place on May 1, 2003, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and can be
accessed by visiting .

Due to security considerations, media representatives planning to attend
must contact Tracy Young, 321/867-2468 by noon, Monday, April 28. Media
will depart at 2:45 p.m. from the Gate 1 Pass & Identification Building,
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). No transportation will be
provided from the KSC Press Site.