A New Tool for Monitoring Marine Protected Areas

Date: December 8, 2006
Contact: Yvonne Menard, 805-658-5725

Konstantine Karpov, with California Department of Fish and Game, and Dirk Rosen, with Marine Applied Research and Exploration, will be guest speakers at the December "From Shore to Sea" lecture series sponsored by Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Their presentation highlights how Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) technology is used to survey the marine protected areas (MPAs) in the deeper waters off Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa Islands.

The ROV work is a survey method being used, in addition to submersibles, scuba divers, and mark and recapture studies, to assess whether marine MPAs are effective. Rosen will describe the technology and operation of the ROV and how it works in conjunction with other methods. Karpov will discuss how researchers use ROV technology to survey fish and invertebrate habitats and identify and track changes in their populations. Eventually, this data may provide evidence of whether bottom-dwelling species such as rockfish, lingcod, and abalone respond to the no-fishing zones by repopulating areas inside and outside of the MPAs.

Karpov is a senior marine biologist with California Department of Fish and Game. He has a master.s degree in marine biology from Moss Landing Marine Laboratory with numerous research publications on invertebrates and finfish. He started the department.s ROV project in 1996 and is now the Chief Scientist and co-leader with Rosen. Rosen is a lead ocean engineer at Marine Applied Research and Exploration, an organization dedicated to applying marine technology to scientific questions. He has built and test-piloted four manned submersibles rated to 3,300 feet or deeper and designed and built over 400 ROVs.

The lectures occur at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 12, 2006, at the Chase Palm Park building at 236 E. Cabrillo Blvd. in Santa Barbara and Wednesday, December 13, 2006, at the Channel Islands National Park Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center located at 1901 Spinnaker Drive in the Ventura Harbor. The programs are free and open to the public.