Welcome to the first post of the East Pacific Rise Biofilms Project Research Blog!
Today we left Puntarenas, Costa Rica for a 4-day transit through the Pacific Ocean heading towards the East Pacific Rise. We will be at sea for the entire month of December, including Christmas, Chanukkah, and New Year’s, so please reach out to us as our family and friends! We return to port on January 1st, welcoming the new year with new deep-sea discoveries.
What Are We Researching
On this cruise we will be studying the role bacterial biofilms play in larval settlement at hydrothermal vents along the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at 9°50’N. On board the R/V Atlantis, we will work closely with the human occupied submersible, Alvin, to travel to depths around 2,500 meters and deploy experiments, recover past deployments and collect samples. In hydrothermal vent communities, bacteria are the basis of life, converting hydrothermal vent fluid into biomass that can be utilized by animals living near these ecosystems through symbiosis or direct consumption. These bacteria can exist as free-living cells in the water column or attached to surfaces as biofilms. Bacterial biofilms incorporate the chemistry and temperature variability of the environment that could predict habitat suitability for settling larvae. Essentially these bacterial communities might communicate to larvae that this is the right place for them to land and develop.
To explore the role bacteria play in this settlement process we will be deploying short-term settlement experiments called “sandwiches”, 6 polycarbonate plates stacked together. We will deploy them in a mesh “purse” that will allow bacteria to grow a film on the plates without letting larvae and animals in. Later we will uncover them and see what larvae and other animals attach to the sandwiches. Each filmed sandwich will be paired with a fresh sandwich to control the effects of these bacterial films. We will also use a variety of -omics methods to better understand the composition and function of the bacterial communities. Within our study sites we will deploy these sandwiches at three different animal zones: one dominated by Alvinella tubeworms, one dominated by Riftia tubeworms, and a third dominated by Bathymodiolin mussels. These animals exist within distinct zones, constrained by increasing H2S concentration and temperature of the surrounding water.
Who Is Researching
(Right) Scientists from WWU. Left to right: Vanessa Jimenez, Wyatt Heimbichner-Goebel, Dexter Davis, Tanika Ladd, Shawn Arellano. Photo taken by JP Isaacs.
(Left) Scientists from WHOI, SU, and CNRS. Left to right: Stephane Hourdez, Michael Meneses, Ayinde Best, Lauren Mullineaux, Nadine LeBris, Susan Mills, Lauren Dykman. Photo taken by JP Isaacs.
(Right) Scientists from RU and UN. Left to right: Matteo Selci, Martina Cascone, Donato Giovanelli, Costantino Vetriani, Olivia Cannon, Ian Schlegel, Avanthika Bharath. Photo taken by JP Isaacs.
The teams on board come from institutions all over the world with scientists from Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (Falmouth, MS), Sorbonne University (Paris, France), CNRS (France), Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ), and the University of Naples (Naples, Italy). We will also be working closely with JP Isaacs, and Dena Siedel from the Documentary Film Lab at Rutgers to create a science-in-action documentary film to share the excitement and effort for deep sea research. Coming from all these places meant we had a long journey getting to Puntarenas, with many of these groups having multiple travel days. Once we all arrived in San Jose, we had to take a shuttle an hour and a half through the country until we reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean. For many of us it’s our first time in Costa Rica, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, so the shuttle ride was filled with excitement scanning the forests for rare, and new animals. Some of us were lucky enough to see a toucan in a tree right off the main road! When we reached Puntarenas, the ship was not docked in port, so we had to take a water taxi to get on the Atlantis. Having to pack for a month at sea, and some vacationing in Costa Rica, we had a lot of bags. Our bags were filled with science equipment, clothes for conducting science comfortably in tropical heat and in the cold rooms on the ship, plus some holiday cheer. Thankfully both the shuttle and the water taxi were able to accommodate our large amount of luggage.
How the Research Begins
While Shawn Arellano and Dexter Davis were reunited to the ship after spending October on the Atlantis, the rest of the team became familiar with the vessel and unpacked into their berthing rooms (after everyone tested negative for COVID). We spent the mobilization days introducing each other, having meetings about science objectives, and planning out and setting up the lab spaces. We checked all our equipment was where we left it before the Atlantis left the U.S., that we had access to salt, fresh, and milliQ water, the cold rooms were set up, and everything unpacked was organized and secured. We set up microscopes, pressure vessels, video equipment, and of course made sure we all paid rent on the first of the month. During set-up we made sure to make this ship a home by putting up some holiday decorations, designating office spaces, started introducing ourselves to the crew members, and catching up on sleep lost during travel. Before we left port, we even helped the cooks on board by loading local fresh fruit, vegetables, pasta, snacks, eggs, and other food items from the side of the ship to the elevator that went to food storage. If they were to cook for us for a month, we were more than happy to help them.
As we set sail at 8 in the morning, we watched as civilization faded, enjoying the warm tropical sun with pelicans and frigate birds overhead, and scanning the water for dolphins and turtles. We are excited for the adventures ahead, the discoveries to be made, and the new family we will be a part of for the next month. During this 4-day transit we will prepare our deployments, get our chemicals ready, solidify our research and dive plans, and adjust to life at sea.
Follow us along on this blog as I share the intricacies of deep-sea research, introduce each of our collaborating teams, and share our findings.
I’ll also be posting to the Arellano Lab Instagram (@larvallab) and twitter (@LarvalLab) and follow #Biofilms4Larvae for more posts.
I’m glad to hear everyone paid their rent.