Hey! I'm Sam,
and I'm a certified scuba diver
who loves the ocean
because it's filled
with all kinds
of amazing creatures,
both big and small.
It's such a magical place.
When I get to explore
this underwater world,
it's always an adventure.
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Today, I'm at Elbow Reef
in the Florida Keys,
meeting up with two experts
from NOAA,
the National Oceanic
Atmospheric Administration.
I'll be going on a dive
with John Katchenago,
a unit diving supervisor,
and Laura "Jay" Grove,
a research fishery biologist.
Elbow Reef is a popular
dive spot here in the Keys.
It has some beautiful
reef systems that have formed
on some very old shipwrecks.
These reefs are home
to all kinds of marine life.
Here we go!
(electronic music)
Elbow Reef is commonly
called "Wreck Reef."
I see why.
I'm holding on to
a mooring buoy line
that starts at the surface
and anchors the boat
without creating damage
to the reef habitat.
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It's pretty quiet down here
considering coral reefs
create homes
for about 9 million species.
Look.
A little drumfish swimming
in and out of the coral,
and a school of tiny
mangrove fish
playing follow-the-leader.
There's a different species
at every turn.
This starfish is about
the size of my hand.
And this is a basket starfish.
It's a bit smaller
and has twisting tentacles
with tiny hooks to catch prey.
Really amazing.
Hiding behind those rocks
is a yellow stingray.
Let's get a closer look.
Too late.
Off it goes.
Let's get up close
to the coral.
These buds are one of
the tiniest architects
of the reef:
coral polyps.
Coral polyps are
super small organisms
that attach
themselves to rocks on the
seafloor and divide into
thousands of clones to create
colonies that become reefs.
This shipwreck's rusted
remains are buried
under vegetation
and coral formations.
It's the perfect reef habitat.
You can see some parts
are still intact,
like the bow and decks.
These shipwrecks
have been grounded
since the late 19th
and 20th centuries.
There's so many
awesome species
and maritime history
living in this reef.
Time to dry off
and learn more.
Jay and John,
can you tell me a little bit
about what you guys do
as your jobs?
I am a NOAA Corps officer.
I work with a maritime
heritage group,
map shipwrecks,
and I'm also the unit
diving supervisor,
so I monitor
all diving activities
within the Florida Keys
and ensure everything is safe
and everyone is following
NOAA policy standards.
So, how often do you dive
on a weekly basis?
Any day that it's nice.
Basically,
it's not blowing 15 or more,
-I'm out on the water.
-Okay.
-This is my office most days.
-Wow.
That's a pretty cool office.
And how about you, Jay?
I am a research
fishery biologist,
so I am a scientist,
and I do a lot of work with
the National Coral Reef
Monitoring Program,
so I am down there doing
assessments of reef fish.
So, I'm down there often
with a fish stick,
measuring fish,
and recording information
on fish and coral
all throughout
the Florida Keys,
Dry Tortugas,
-and the U.S. Caribbean.
-SAM: That's super neat.
Jay has the awesome job
of naming any new,
unknown species she discovers.
Now, that's pretty cool.
So we're here at Elbow Reef,
and...is this reef actually
shaped like an elbow?
JOHN: Actually, yeah,
it kind of...
if you looked at the chart,
here's Florida, right?
-Yeah.
-Here's the reef line.
Elbow Reef kind of juts out
like an elbow here.
-Okay.
-JOHN: So, for whatever reason,
has attracted
several shipwrecks
of steamships over the years.
I would say that
a shipwreck
is a ship that has gone
aground and sank.
Or at least,
maybe didn't go aground,
but something caused it
to take on water and sink.
It was not deliberately sunk,
whereas an artificial reef...
people decided,
"We are going to clean this up
and try to remove
"all harmful chemicals
and substance
-and deliberately sink it."
-SAM: Okay.
Old subway cars, naval ships,
and even tires have been sunk
to create artificial reefs.
Why do they do that?
A lot of it has to do
with tourism.
Tourism, diving...
Artificial reefs make
great fish habitat.
They're just a great spot
for everybody to visit.
SAM: One of the most popular
artificial reef sites
in Florida is the "Duane,"
an old military ship
that was intentionally sunk
in 1987.
(peaceful piano music)
These habitats are beautiful,
but can be very damaging
to these sensitive
environmental areas.
Biologists generally prefer
that these artificial reefs
remain as natural as possible.
-When did
those shipwrecks sink?
-JOHN: So,
the "Acorn" went down in 1885.
-SAM: Wow.
-JOHN: It was 167 feet.
And the "Hannah M. Bell"
went down in 1911,
and she was 315 feet.
-That's a long time ago.
-Yeah.
Based off of the wrecks
that we saw in the reef,
how can you tell that
it's fully established?
That's a great question.
And it's because,
if you noticed, when we were
kind of bopping between
the natural reef
onto the shipwreck,
you didn't
see a lot of change, right?
You didn't see a lot of
change in the structure.
You saw some of
the same organisms.
You saw the same corals,
the same gorgonians.
You saw the same fish.
And a newer shipwreck
wouldn't necessarily
have that.
-SAM: Okay.
-JAY: But it was
a seamless transition,
and sometimes,
you'd almost had to look down
to say, "Am I over
the shipwreck
-or in a natural reef?"
-Yeah.
Yeah, it was hard to tell.
♪ ♪
So what were
some of the creatures
that we saw down there, Jay?
JAY: We saw tons of creatures
on this dive.
We saw two different
stingrays, right?
JAY: Absolutely.
You saw a southern stingray
and a yellow stingray.
The yellow stingrays
are ridiculously cute.
-And he swims pretty fast.
-Yeah, if you spook them,
they definitely will swim
pretty quickly.
SAM: I wasn't trying
to spook him.
JAY: (laughs) It just happens.
SAM: And then we saw
a really cool fish that had
a long snout
and blue polka dots.
-JAY: Yes.
-SAM: What was that?
JAY: That was a scrawled
filefish.
-That is a awesome fish.
-SAM: That's super neat.
Thanks, guys, for taking me
out on this dive.
♪ ♪
Coral reef systems
provide food
and shelter to
all kinds of species.
(building electronic music)
♪ ♪
Reefs also play
a very important role
in keeping us safe,
acting as a barrier
to protect our shorelines
from damaging waves,
storms, and floods.
♪ ♪
See you next time
on "What Sam Sees."
Captioned by Captionmax
