Until 1978, no diver explored Cordell Bank. This unusual place is now a national marine reserve. I wonder how this part of the ocean off the coast of California, northwest of San Francisco, became a sanctuary.
The bank was opened by George Davidson, conducting surveys on the northern coast of California in 1853. Sixteen years later, in 1869, Edward Cordell conducted a more extensive survey, after which the bank was named. It follows that some of the experiences enjoyed by the first divers are considering a bank.
At a height of 150 feet, air bubbles, like gravel poured from a metal bucket, come out of my regulator. We are located 20 miles from the nearest shoreline on the ridge of the large Pacific Sea, called Cordell Bank, and the scene below is incredibly bright. Anemone, hydrocor, sponges and algae cover everything in sight, in many places they grow one above the other.
Collecting some of these organisms, we suddenly turned red with euphoric vertigo. We try to smile, but the numbness of the lips and regulator make efforts that are much more stupid. Struggling for control of anesthesia, we continue to collect and investigate. However, it is too early, however, my friend is waving his fingers in front of my mask. Now, where is the climb line? The flashing strobe is conspicuous, and I swim towards him. The line is there, so we follow our bubbles, but not on the surface. At 10 feet we both capture regulators of total scuba divers. Waiting for decompression looks eternal, as we can hardly wait to tell others about our dive, where no one has ever been before.
This experience was passed on to author Robert Schmeider, Ph.D., from Walnut Creek, California, who was obsessed with the Cordell Bank study. In 1977, studying the coastline chart of northern California, this atomic physicist became intrigued by Cordell Bank, who is 20 miles (32 km) west of Toyn Reyes and northwest of San Francisco. The diagram shows that there was at least one small place with a depth of 20 fathoms or 120 feet (37 meters). It could be used with ordinary scuba gears, so Schmeider suggested it was. But when he asked several diving friends if they were ever there, he found no. Therefore, he spoke with people from the Coast Guard, the Fleet, the California Academy of Sciences, the University of California at Berkeley, the Department of Fish and Games, the Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and others. After a couple of months, Bob realized that his amazement did not know much about the bank. The idea of exploring Cordell Bank soon became a serious goal.
But Bob expected many dangers. Deep diving can always be dangerous, especially when diving with compressed air due to the possibility of nitrogen anesthesia and problems with decompression. In addition, he knew that the water was cold, and a fairly hard current of one or two nodes ran through the area. Two nodes are nearly impossible to accomplish. Worse, he expected to encounter a large number of sharks, including large whites, since Cordell Bank lies about halfway between Tomales Bay and the Farallon Islands, in both places where it is known that great whites gather,
The fisherman at Bodega Bay knew the bank as an excellent fishing area, so Bob built a boat and a skipper there. After extensive discussions with some of his regular diving partners, he announced his diversification plan at the head of the Loma Prieta Sierra Club in San Francisco Bay in October 1977. He knew that a large group of support would be needed to study the bank. At an organizational meeting held in the cells of the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, the group chose divmasters and all but one of 40 people who visited $ 40 apiece to start the Cordell- Bank.
After several practical dives in Monterey and on the Farallon Islands, Bob sensed that his group was ready to go to Cordell Bank. Unfortunately, he faced many difficulties. Most importantly, several divers left the group, so it was difficult for Bob to gather enough divers for the trip. Finally, on October 20, 1978, just five divers, Bob went to Cordell Bank.
As Bob recalls, “what we saw that day absolutely amazed us. We were completely unprepared for the level of light, the drivers did not remove their lights, because they simply do not need them. It was so easy that you could almost read. was at a depth of 150 feet. "
“At the top of the summit were sharp clusters of fish measuring 12 inches (30 cm), filled with this marvelous sight. We could see colors - red and oranges and yellow - and the stones were covered, only flooded, with organizations. Sponges, especially Corynactics (strawberry anemone), pink hydrocolors, hydroids and many coarse-grained algae. It seemed that someone was planting them. We were just stunned. ”
On the first dive, they collected about 50 species, including at least one new genus of algae and one new species. Working closely with a number of professional biologists from the University of California at Berkeley, the California Academy of Sciences, the Los Angeles County Museum, Geological Survey, Smithsonian and other institutions, they listed and identified their new collections as long as the list included more than 400 species.
After this first dive, made possible by the Sierra Club diving clubs and grants from organizations such as the San Francisco Foundation and the National Geographic Society, Cordell Bank Expeditions have become a member-supported data collection system that bought its own research vessel, the Cordell Explorer, which was fired in 2014. They bought a LORAN-C receiver and conducted deep surveys in certain areas, measuring the depths and positions of the recording. From this data, they were able to create their own set of diagrams. These maps became an important help for more successful dives, as they could more reliably find the peaks and ridges they wanted to dive. In the summer of 1985, Bob and the college were able to obtain the most up-to-date hydrographic survey data at the Bank as a result of a project conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Geological Survey USGS). This survey covered a 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast, which the US needs to control. Cordell Bank may well be the best view of the coast of North America.
In addition to collecting samples and shooting, the expedition also used a 35mm photo, as well as a Super 8mm, 16mm and videotape. Some of their photographs were useful for identifying species that did not appear in their collections and showed physical features that divers might not have noticed during their dives.
They found that this underwater mountain is roughly elliptical, and at a depth of 50 feet it is 9-1 / 2 miles long by 4 miles wide (15.3 x 7.25 km). It is located right on the edge of the continental shelf and is the northernmost such shallow place down to Canada. The bank is an excellent plateau with a flat top rising to a depth of 30 to 35 feet. On this plateau, at least four systems of rocky mountain ranges, two in the north and two in the south, and several peaks reach the sinking depths. In fact, the smallest point found by the expedition is about 19 fathoms (114 feet or 35 meters) and is part of the ridge system in the northeast. Geologically, it is considered part of the ancient Sierra Nevada, which was cut by the Pacific plate, thus explaining its granite composition.
Growing this peak 19-fathama is a dense whitish hat made of shells and red algae. Below this, from 20 to 25 fathoms (36.6-45.7 meters), sessile communities are estimated on nearby thick sponges, anemones, including the common strawberry anemone Corynactis californica, California Hydrocoral Allorora californica, hydroids and shells. Space is the limiting factor. Organizations are very brightly colored with red, yellow, white and pink. On 30 fathoms (55 meters), the community is scattered to several large, widely located creatures, mainly sponges, hedgehogs and anemones. At 35 fathoms (64 meters), bare rock dominates the stage. About 200 feet in different places accumulate bright white sediments of almost one hundred percent shell fragments.
The Cordell Bank community shows very little evidence of illness or death, because current events in California are clean, clean, cold (50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 to 13 degrees) high nutrient-rich waters, a relatively shallow shoreline. When the destroyed El Nino current comes from the coast of California, the water temperature in the bank rises to more than 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15.6 ° C. The sun's rays penetrate this water, so deep-sea divers can take pictures using available light at a distance of 150 feet ( 46 meters)). Visibility sometimes reaches 100 feet (30.5 meters). Because of the clarity of the water and the nutritional load, photosynthetic organisms maintain an extensive and complex food chain to large fish, birds and mammals.
Cordell Bank has long been known as an excellent fishing zone. Groups of masons gather around the tops, sometimes so thickly, divers report white conditions. In addition to reeds, the sports fisherman regularly catches lynx, yellowtail, salmon, albacore and shark. Strangely enough, divers have not yet seen the great white sharks, despite the fact that the bank contains the favorite prey of white, seals and sea lions. They, however, saw blue and mako sharks.
Like sea fish, seabirds often gather around peaks, and it was such meetings that allowed the expedition to initially go home in shallow dive points. During the filming and diving trips since 1978, volunteer observers from the California Marine Mammal Center and the University of San Francisco recorded numerous observations of seabirds and mammals in or near Cordell Bank. They saw 33 species of seabirds, including an albatross with black-footed legs, northern fulmar, surfing, southern polar skin, a common fly, pigeon, a plump deadlock and a brown pelican. A particularly threatened, threatened brown pelican was particularly noteworthy because it was seen on about two-thirds of the trips.
Observers also recorded fourteen species of marine mammals. Of particular interest were two endangered cetaceans, humpback and blue whales. Both species feed in a can. The team’s most exciting encounter with the blues occurred on October 10, 1982, when the pair approached from the bow of the harbor, surfaced 30 yards, sailed noticeably under the ship, and again surfaced several hundred yards aft. Mark Webber and Stephen Cooper reporting the group felt that the number of sightings of the blue whale “represents a significant number of records for these species over the continental shelf in the Cordell Bank area and, along with the likely sightings of feeding, suggests that this area is an important autumn environment habitats of these species. " Of particular interest are also observations of northern elephant seals, which pelagic habits have only recently become better understood. Other observed mammals include the sea whale, the Dalla porpoise, the porpoise, the orc, the Pacific white-footed dolphin, the Riso dolphin, the northern right whale dolphin, the California sea lion, the sea lion, the northern seal, and the harbor. They were all autumn observations. The expedition limited its trips to autumn, because the weather at that time was most predictable and because the currents in California and Davidson more or less compensate for each other, which makes the dive more practical.
The greatest secrets of Bob and his divers are faced with several large cylindrical holes that lie right on the sharpest, highest parts of the region. Some holes seem to be artificial, but others look natural. Listen to the fact that in the 1960s, as part of a project involving the detection of submarines, holes were made in the US Navy. Bob's expedition was once carried out for almost an hour by an unidentified submarine. Despite his safety, Bob was completely unable to learn anything from the navy about it.
Cordell Bank is now a national marine reserve. The NOAA Sanctuary Programs Office (SPD), which is responsible for the sanctuary program, held its first informational hearing at a bank in San Francisco on April 25, 1984 and published a draft statement on environmental protection and other documents.
Bob is optimistic about the future of Cordell. He believes that “we do not want those of us who want to preserve certain areas of our environment, such as museums, to create legislation that protects these areas, the national environment, our cultural heritage, and our sea shrines will become I hope and believe that in 50 or 100 years, areas such as Cordell Bank, which have long been designated by sea sanctuaries, will become part of our national heritage and will be considered indestructible. ”
Creating a marine reserve
The program of federal marine reserves was established in accordance with Section III of the Sea Protection, Research and Sanctuary Act 1972. This law provides that areas in the ocean as far as the edge of the continental shelf and in the Great Lakes can be protected.
During the first 5 years, the program slowly crawled, because no funds were allocated. By 1977, only two marine reserves had been designated. The first was a plot of six square miles from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to protect the wreckage of the USS Monitor, and the second was the Ker Largo Marine Reserve, belonging to the John Pennekamp State Park in Florida Key, which covers 100 square miles . In the same year of 1977, President Carter, in his message on the environment to Congress, supported the program and increased funding. Unlike the original intent of the law, Carter tried to protect the areas under threat, in this case, by developing offshore oil. As it turned out, one of the last official actions of Carter was the design of three new shrines: Looe Key in Florida, Gray & Reef in Georgia and the Bay of Farallon in California. (Cordell Bank is adjacent to this shrine.) Once again, the program was slow because of limited funding in the Reagan administration.
The slowness of the sanctuary program was particularly dreary, since all lands are already under state or federal control and do not require funds to be acquired. Money is only needed to evaluate potential sites, manage a site after it becomes a sanctuary, and enforce protective laws.
The program of marine reserves works as follows. Any organization or member of the public may submit applications to the Division of Relationship Programs (SPD) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce (NOAA) for review. The idea of assigning a place should not be frightening. As Bob Schmeider found out, “the nomination itself does not have to be very specific. Of course, if (SPD) already knows about the site, about which they already knew about Cordell Bank, from the information I gave them long before the nomination, (then) the actual stage of nomination of candidates was just a letter from me to them, saying that I would like to nominate cordell bank. Some information so they know about it. It's all ".
Previously, the assignment was automatically placed on the Recommended Areas List, but this was replaced by the Site Rating List (SEL), which includes nominated sites that meet certain preliminary criteria. After review by SPD staff, SPD may move this area to an active candidate. At this stage they will prepare draft documents, including a management plan, an environmental impact report (EIS) and a project document. They will be distributed to interested individuals, organizations and government agencies. They also plan public speaking in the communities closest to the candidate site for additional materials. Based on this, they will prepare final documents and distribute them and conduct more hearings. Congress has the opportunity to view the site’s candidacy and hold its own hearings. Cordell Bank was the first candidate for the sanctuary for such control. If the site is under the jurisdiction of the state, the state governor may veto the project, but this does not necessarily cancel the site’s candidacy. (Cordell Bank was not in state waters.) After all these steps, the Minister of Commerce may sign a project document, and the site will become a national marine reserve.
Cordell Bank был создан как морской заповедник в 1989 году и расширился в 2015 году до 1286 квадратных миль.
Официальный веб-сайт правительства для Корделл-Банка находится по адресу: http://www.cordellbank.noaa.gov, а веб-сайт «Корделл Банк Экспедиции» находится по адресу: http://www.cordell.org.
