Mark C. Benfield - BOEM Homepage · Mark C. Benfield Louisiana State University Oceanography and...
Transcript of Mark C. Benfield - BOEM Homepage · Mark C. Benfield Louisiana State University Oceanography and...
An Academic-Industrial Partnership to Explore Life in the Deep Gulf of Mexico
Mark C. Benfield Louisiana State University
Oceanography and Coastal Sciences
What Is SERPENT? • Global partnership between the oil and gas industry
and academia
• ROVs and other instrumentation to conduct research
• Operational stand-by time
• Observations and experiments
• Pure and applied research
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SERPENT Projects
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Rationale Doc
Ricketts
4000 m
Ventana
1850 m
Jason/Medea
6500 m
ROPOS
5000 m
MaxROVER
914 m
Hercules
4000 m
RCV-150
914 m
Global Explorer
3000 m
4000 m
1850 m
5000 m
914 m
4000 m
914 m
3000 m
Image Credits: Jason (WHOI), ROPOS (CSSF), Doc Ricketts & Ventana (MBARI), Hercules (NOAA), Global Explorer (Deep Sea Systems), MaxROVER (NURP), RCV-150 (NOAA). 4
Oil and Gas ROVs
1500 m
3000 m
Image Credits: Subsea7, Saipem-America, Oceaneering
2000 m
Centurion QX200
Centurion HD
Hercules Pioneer HD
1500 m
Pioneer HD
1000 m
Innovator 4K
4000 m
Innovator
3500 m 3000 m
Millennium/ Magnum
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Image Credit: New York Times/Transocean 6
Extended Presence in the Sea
GOM Exploration and Production Sites
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Project Objectives • Deep-sea biological observation system • Mesopelagic and bathypelagic plankton and nekton
– What organisms are present? – Where do they occur (lat, lon, depth)? – When do they occur? – What are they doing?
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Scientific Discovery
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Educational Opportunities
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Educational Opportunities
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What About Industry?
• Reinforce the ‘E’ in the HSE message
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Industry Benefits: Corporate Image
• Demonstrate corporate commitment to the environment, to the public, and to shareholders
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Value to Industry • Better pilots for SERPENT = better pilots for drilling
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Critical Pre-Impact/Post-Impact • What were conditions like prior to drilling? • Seafloor and water column conditions prior to
an incident
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SERPENT Surveys
• Post-riser inspection surveys
• Dedicated surveys
• Opportunistic observations
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Operations
DATABASE ID, Date, Time, Depth, Lat, Lon, Temperature, Other Metadata
CLIENT
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Long-term Database
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Long-Term Database 0
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Dep
th (m
)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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Opportunistic Observations
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Data Mining
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Scientific Discoveries: Somniosus Shark
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Results: Manefish (Paracaristius sp.)
• Poorly studied, infrequently sampled mesopelagic fishes
• Best video observations of this little-known species to date
Benfield et al. 2009
Image: NOAA
University of Sao Paulo Museum
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Results: Stygiomedusa gigantea • First records of Stygiomedusa gigantea from GOM
• Four observations: Discoverer Deep Seas, GSF Explorer, Thunder Horse, Development Driller I
Benfield 2010 24
Results: Stygiomedusa gigantea • First records of Stygiomedusa gigantea from GOM
• Four observations: Discoverer Deep Seas, GSF Explorer, Thunder Horse, Development Driller I
Benfield 2010 25
Results: Stygiomedusa gigantea
Benfield and Graham 2010 26
Results: Stygiomedusa gigantea
Benfield and Graham 2010 27
Results: Stygiomedusa gigantea
Benfield and Graham 2010
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Results: Stygiomedusa gigantea
Benfield and Graham 2010
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Results: Regalecus glesne (oarfish)
• Largest marine teleost
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Results: Regalecus glesne (oarfish) • Largest marine teleost
• Inhabits epipelagic and mesopelagic
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Results: Regalecus glesne (oarfish) • Largest marine
teleost
• Inhabits epipelagic and mesopelagic
• Healthy individuals rarely observed
Brian Skerry/National Geographic 32
Results: Regalecus glesne (oarfish) • Largest marine teleost
• Inhabits epipelagic and mesopelagic
• Healthy individuals rarely observed
• Encounters with dead or dying animals near shore relatively frequent
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Results: Regalecus glesne (oarfish) • Largest marine teleost
• Inhabits epipelagic and mesopelagic
• Healthy individuals rarely observed
• Encounters with dead or dying animals near shore relatively frequent
Harpers Weekly 1860 34
Oarfish
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Oarfish
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Gulf SERPENT Sites 2009
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New Technologies • HD video
• Digital stills camera
• Animal collection system
• Navigation system
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HD Video
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Still Camera System
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• LSU Technician just back from the DD3 revisiting surveys around MC252
• Site visit to Thunder Horse tomorrow
Stuart Cook aboard the DD3 03/07/11 47
At this moment …
Acknowledgments
• BOEMRE: James Sinclair, Greg Boland
• BP: (Terry Rooney, Melissa Simpson, Virginia Park), Shell, Chevron, Oceaneering, Saipem-America, Subsea7
• Global Marine, MV Olympic Challenger ROV teams
• Future Partners: Petrobras, Nexen, Pacific Drilling
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References
Benfield, M.C., J.H. Caruso, and K.J. Sulak. 2009. In situ video observations of two manefishes (Perciformes: Caristiidae) in the mesopelagic zone of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Copeia, 2009(4):637–641.
Benfield, M.C. 2010. Stygiomedusa gigantea: A giant deep sea jellyfish. Global Marine Environment, 11:22 – 25.
Benfield, M.C. and W.M. Graham. 2010. In situ observations of Stygiomedusa gigantea in the Gulf of Mexico with a review of its global distribution and habitat. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 90(4).
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