A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
January 30, 2006
Andrew DeVogelaere
Marine Scientist
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Lorraine Anglin
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
The saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" is certainly true for Davidson Seamount. The images from the 2002 Davidson Seamount expedition excited the public and motivated protection of deep-sea corals and seamounts. Images from this cruise are making their way to Web sites, and have already been exchanged with scientists on-shore to begin the description of what is probably a new species of branching sponge. The seamount artwork pictures from students at the School of the Madeleine have been a hit on our expedition Web site. We will return on February 4 with thousands of new still images and over 100 hrs of high definition video tape.
One of the challenges of education is developing the best way to share images. The Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network (SIMoN) created a Web-based photo database so everyone can use pictures for teaching, reports, presentations, and just plain fun. More than 200 images from Davidson Seamount are available on the SIMoN Web site. The SIMoN photo database contains over 1,000 digital images on a variety of species and seascapes in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Just click on the photo database and search the images by general groupings, genus/species, or enter a specific keyword search, such as "Davidson Seamount." Among the many deep-sea images from the 2002 cruise are a multitude of corals, octopi, a red flat Spanish dancer, an anemone that resembles a Venus flytrap, and elegant deep-sea jellies to name just a few.
We're looking forward to adding significantly to the SIMoN photo database on our return! A note to anyone needing to write a 1,000-word essay for class: you might add a picture and see if you can get credit for an extra 1,000 words . . . At least you'll find out if your teacher has a sense of humor!
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