Julie Cheon, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on at the sanctuary.
Marine debris was removed recently in a number of areas.
Cheon said, “We had one of our employees help with a huge multi agency effort. The whole multi agency team was working out in some pretty remote areas, and they were removing marine debris, anything from abandoned lobster traps, lengths of trap line, and it was amazing how much they found. The team actually made a super measurable impact. They removed 84 traps, cleared nearly four miles of coastline, and estimated the removal of over 8,000 feet of trap rope. I mean, it’s just phenomenal numbers of what was out there. These remote areas don’t always get the attention, because it’s just not close enough to go and make a big effort like this. But that was thousands of feet of line that can entangle wildlife, sea turtle nesting season is coming up, so really good to get that off of the beaches and the shoreline. And this wasn’t just the sanctuary. This was a huge effort by both state and federal partners, Fish and Wildlife, FDP. We had captains volunteering their vessels and crews pushing through some challenging conditions, because the conditions haven’t been great. Now, the work was shoreside, but they still had to get there. So just a huge collaboration. And folks, if there are people out there who are thinking that this is awesome, and they’d like to help with this, there are a couple of ways that folks can get involved. Now, if you’re a diver and you want to do it in the water, we have our gold clean seas program, and there you can directly participate in marine debris removal. But if you prefer to stay on land, there’s a sanctuary guardian program. That’s another great way to plug in and help the effort. So it’s not just a success story, but I want to open the door for other people who might want to be part of the solution. Because when that work gets done, you really do feel a sense of satisfaction. And it just was a great, great effort by all involved.”
There was a connection between the Artemis II and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Cheon said, “I love this story because it surprises a lot of people. But when we talk about or think about space exploration, you don’t normally think about the ocean, but a lot of that training actually happens here in the Florida Keys. Before the astronauts head to space, some especially two from this Artemis trip, they actually trained underwater at the Aquarius Reef Base, which is up there in the Upper Keys. And the training is part of NASA’s Nemo program, and that’s where they live and work underwater. And they spend days at a time to try to simulate the challenges of space flight. So the two astronauts that went on Artemis II that had training down here were Reid Wiseman and Jerry Hanson and they’ve trained there, just actually years before they actually took part in this mission. So it wasn’t like they trained there and the next day they went off. It was years in the making. This trip around the moon isn’t something that just happens willy nilly. But what’s fascinating is that the skills translate almost directly from underwater to above. You’re working in an extreme environment. You’ve got to rely on your team. You have limited resources in the preparation, the problem solving under pressure, it all works together. So it’s been quite a connection for us, and then to have them come and splash back down in the ocean. So it’s kind of like a full circle moment where the ocean helps them prepare, and that’s what welcomes them home. So we’re really excited to just be a small part of that, but we are thankful for the connection.”
How much does it take to train divers to work in a sanctuary?
Cheon said, “We recently hosted the NOAA dive center, mobile dive master course here in the Keys, and we had people from sanctuaries around the country come down and join us for this. And really what makes this unique is that the training happens in real world conditions, so it’s not a controlled environment. We’re actually out there performing operations. And that’s where the training is happening. They’re dealing with actual conditions, the chop, the visibility, they’re learning how to lead dive operations in these situations. There’s a lot that goes into it just to prepare. There’s the pre dive planning, the risk assessment, troubleshooting the equipment and even running through emergency and casualty response scenarios. There is just a lot that you have to be prepared for. During this particular training, they were working off our vessels, and they were actually helping with the mooring buoy team. They were working to restore some mooring buoys, or repair some morning buoys, so that was kind of neat as well. They’re working out there in real world conditions. Because frankly, the conditions, they don’t wait for you to be ready. So they have to train to match that. And that was a good effort. And not only to have our own crew down there training, but also to have crews from other sanctuaries throughout the country.”
The sanctuary is looking for a facility maintenance supervisor.
Cheon said, “If you’re down in the Key West area and facilities maintenance is something that interests you, definitely worth checking that out. And you can check it out on our mission iconic reefs web page or on our social media today. We put it on social media this morning, so definitely check that out. We’re looking for somebody who wants to support our mission, but first, more of the facilities maintenance side of it, and that would include our main office, our Eco Discovery Center and our docs out here that support our team, our field teams.”
For more information, click here: https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/