what job is this?

[underwaterman]

Hey I was just wondering if anyone could tell me a career that would involve deep sea exploration (using submersibles). I know that marine biology focuses more of plankton and microscopic organisms and great amount of lab work. If anyone knows of a job that would be more hands on and have a good amount of field work in this area I would appreciate any information. Iam looking for more of a deep sea research and researching larger animals and organisms.

Thanks.

 

[Aqua Buoy]

Hi

If you want to work in the deep sea (say, 500m+ depth) then you'll probably want to take up marine biology and work your way in that direction. Yes, there is plankon and microscopic and lab work involved in marine biology, but plankton and microscopic research usually involves other forms of sampling, though some use manned submersibles. You'd be hard pressed to get into a deep sea sub for research anyother way, if biology is what you're looking for. You can also become a sub pilot, but that's probably a lot harded to get into and I would imagine you'd have to go via an engineering route of some sort.

Deep sea research for larger animals (I assume we're not referring to whales - though there is research on whale carcass decomposition, which is also microbial in some cases) is possible, in fact a lot of it involves observation on the benthos (sea bed) but there are lots of things you can do. Two things to bear in mind though, while you'd get to go to sea, you'd also do lots and lots and lots of lab work - sampling is the fun bit, then you have to analyse and examine your samples. In fact due to the very sampling nature I'd say it would also be very lab intensive - but unless you're doing marine field ecology I don't see how you can feasibly avoid lab work in the marine sciences. Second, you'd probably have to be doing your PhD before you saw your first sub dive, maybe if your very very lucky you'd be allowed in a dive as a MSc student.

Here are some links to look into
http://people.whitman.edu/~yancey/deepsea.html
http://www.le.ac.uk/biology/gat/deepsea/deepsea.html (see links throughout this page)

It's definitely worth thinking about it... good luck

 

[Aqua Buoy]

ps, you can PM me if you have any questions

 

[ScubaBabe22]

I took an oceans ecology class 2 semesters ago...it might be worth a try...again, like Mr. Buoy said above, there will be alot of education involved!!!

 

[DennisS]

Submersible pilot could be the way to go. They usually start out as service techs with an electronic/mechanical backround and work their way down the ladder.

 

[Aqua Buoy]

These additional links may be of interest also

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1105_031106_tvdudleyfoster.html
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040802/pf/040802-22_pf.html

http://www.whoi.edu/marops/vehicles/alvin/
http://www.whoi.edu/marops/vehicles/alvin/alvinsim/index.html

http://www.marinetech.org/careers/index.php

 

[DivesWithTurtles]

Another field that is involved with deep-sea work quite a bit is geology, particularly in the petroleum exploration area.

 

[archman]

Hey I was just wondering if anyone could tell me a career that would involve deep sea exploration (using submersibles). I know that marine biology focuses more of plankton and microscopic organisms and great amount of lab work. If anyone knows of a job that would be more hands on and have a good amount of field work in this area I would appreciate any information. Iam looking for more of a deep sea research and researching larger animals and organisms.

Hmmm... most of what you are describing is what I do... deep sea research with larger animals. No, I have never been on a submersible (but I've written directions for people that are riding inside them). Submersible "research" is highly overexaggerated. The vast bulk of deep-sea biology is done using remote sampling devices like grabs, trawls, tethered cameras, and the like. There are only a handful of subs around, and they cost a bloody fortune to operate. They also have limited usefulness over more conventional gear types. "Exploration" is more of what they are used for, and that's usually a very different thing than research. The folks that have had the privilege of being in a deep sea submersible number in the hundreds... which ranks them in the same miniscule percentage as astronauts.

The only good way to "get in" with the sub crowd is to hang out with those folks directly. Woods Hole, Harbor Branch, and the Monterey Aquarium all have good programs in the U.S.. In England there's Southhampton, probably the #1 place for deep sea study of larger organisms. In Texas there are several deep sea labs out of Texas A&M, Texas A&M Galveston, UTMSI, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. None have submersibles. Ian MacDonald out of Corpus is the lead deep sea "explorer" regionally... he goes in subs all the time and finds all kinds of cool stuff in the Gulf of Mexico. Recently he was in the news for locating a chemosynthetic community based on natural asphalt. Usually he dives with a pilot and possibly another scientist... occasionally one of his graduate students goes along. Your typical deep sea submersible only accomodates 1-2 people besides the pilot.

 

[Wildcard]

Don't forget the US Navy route. It may not be exactly what your looking for but sometimes things lead to places you never thought of before!