Updates from the South Java Deep Sea Expedition

The South Java Deep Sea Biodiversity Expedition of SJADES 2018 kicked off on 23rd March, sailing off in the BARUNA JAYA 8 on the evening tide. The first four days were spent in the Sunda Straits between the islands of Sumatra and Java, and facing the open Indian Ocean. The time was used to good effect to fine-tune procedures, test the equipment with the crew and team, and ensuring the specimens are well handled when collected.

Mother Nature, however, was not kind to us. The seas were choppy, it was raining and the boat was rocking badly – we were suffering the tailwind effects of a cyclone much further south. It was a testing time as half the team (including both chief scientists!) was sea-sick on the first day. And we had to work a 16-hour shift as we had much to do. But the excitement of trying to catch deep-sea animals was palpable and everyone persevered. We survived the storm – literally and figuratively. But the anticipation of success is a wonderful tonic for seasickness and tiredness.

And we were successful. In the first few days, the dredges, trawls and corers entered depths of almost 1000 metres, collecting many strange animals. Many of the scientists on board have never handled deep-sea animals before, and all were extremely excited each time the catch came up. More so that some animals were still alive! It was amusing to see grown women and men jumping around in excitement like kids in a toy shop! While all the scientists have seen photographs of these animals, it is very different to see them in the flesh – and they have literally, out of this world appearances (see below). They are indeed aliens from the deep!

The fourth day (26th March) was a bonanza for the team as the skills got honed. In the waters between the Sunda Strait and Indian Ocean, the team trawled to depths of almost 1600 m and we obtained many strange animals for the first time. This included a new infraclass of sea stars, giant sea cucumbers, bizarre glass sponges, new species of spider crabs, strange new hermit crabs, and arguably the catch of the day was a 30 cm long giant isopod! We will share the details of these discoveries with all very soon!

Surprisingly, the entry into the main Indian Ocean itself on the fifth day was somewhat of an anti-climax as the waters got calmer and the weather got better. That being said, sampling got trickier as the terrain was more rugged and the maps were not always reliable. As such, sampling at depths of 1000 metres got more difficult. Some trawls and cores failed completely. But this we expected – sampling in an area that has never been sampled before for bottom-dwelling animals is not easy. But we did not do too badly – as of 30th March, the team has logged 36 stations. Of these, only three were considered failures.

The Singaporean expedition leader, Prof Ng notes that, “The expedition team has gelled together very well and by the second day, things were already coming along smoothly. The collections so far have uncovered a large number of scientifically important species, including many new records for Indonesia and the region. It has been singularly exciting. I am particularly happy of course with my crabs and my cool “Darth Vader” isopod!”

The Indonesian expedition leader, Prof Rahayu was delighted – she has already found dozens of new and unexpected deep-water hermit crabs (her research speciality) and even hatched out the eggs of one strange species that lives in rotten wood! She comments “The discoveries have been overwhelming and exciting! We have found many things we never imagined were living down there – and they are all Indonesian animals! We must find more – especially hermit crabs of course!”

And we now enter the second half of the expedition with renewed vigour and anticipation! Stay tuned!