Lack of funding
this year will limit
submersible’s
operations

For the first time in 12 years,
scientists won't be able to check
Loihi, the undersea volcano

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

For the first time since 1987, scientists apparently won't be able to see what's happening on seamount Loihi this year.

Researchers have been going annually to the undersea volcano southeast of the Big Island to monitor its growth.

However, the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory will have a short season for submersible operations this year because of limited funding, said director Alex Malahoff. He said HURL receives about $2.5 million a year from the National Undersea Research Program for deep-sea scientific investigations.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program has had trouble getting congressional support.

But Malahoff anticipates increased funding next year, noting the undersea program has new leadership and is getting "a much better reception."

He said HURL's program has two major thrusts: to investigate Loihi, an emerging island, and to study deep-water fish and other sea animals and their habitats.

Terry Kerby, HURL operations director and a submersible pilot, said only 12 dives are scheduled this year, all for fisheries research in August and September.

Having to skip Loihi this year is "really disappointing," he said.

"It is fascinating," Kerby said. "A lot is going on. To miss a year seems sacrilegious."

The seamount's summit is about 3,154 feet below the ocean's surface.

Using the Pisces V submersible operated by Kerby and other HURL pilots, researchers have installed instruments on the volcano and explored it annually to keep tabs on volcanic activity and changes.

Researchers made 68 dives last summer to study Loihi and do fisheries work off Oahu and the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, Kerby said. One dive on Loihi was done for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to test an instrument destined to go to Jupiter's moon Europa, he said.

Europa's environment is believed to be similar to Loihi.

A remotely operated vehicle and a scanning radar system were used for the first time during last year's diving operations.

The scanning system, added to the submersible, gives ranges and bearing and tells when the bottom is approaching, Kerby said.

Before the scanning system, it was up to the pilot to get the submersible out of any trouble."There was no scanning ability before to know what was coming at you," he said. It was up to the pilot to get the submersible out of any trouble, he said.

The remotely operated vehicle, handled by HURL Deputy Director Allen Wright, made 48 dives in its first year, Kerby said.

He said the submersible did quite a number of dives in Pele's Pit, about 4,382 feet from the ocean surface on Loihi. It was 410 degrees Fahrenheit in the hydrothermal vents two years ago, but appears to be cooling a little, he said.

"We could hear landslides on most of the dives," Kerby said. "Areas around the edges are eroding from hydrothermal activity and causing some decay and rock fall."

But, added the veteran submersible pilot, "All in all, the whole run down there has gotten to be such a milk run."