Deep ocean researcher Christopher Kelley

Photo courtesy of Marine Science Center

Deep ocean researcher Christopher Kelley will present his lecture “In Deeper Waters: Exploring Earth’s Largest, Yet Least Understood, Biome,” at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center this week.

The presentation is planned for 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8 as part of the center’s lecture series “The Future of Oceans.”

The free event, set to be held via Zoom, will explore the extreme environments found in the deepest recesses of the ocean, which also make up the largest biome on the planet. 

Because of the inhospitable conditions to both humans and technology, our understanding of the deep sea pales in comparison to other areas of biological study, however, exploring the depths and discovering how our oceans function is crucial to the understanding of our planet as a whole. 

“The deep-sea floor accounts for roughly two-thirds of our planet’s surface, yet we don’t know what most of it really looks like and have yet to meet many of its inhabitants,” said Kelley, who retired to Port Townsend in 2019. 

“I will show two basic types of tools we are using to learn more about its geology and biology, then show a few of my personal highlights from spending over 20 years exploring in deeper waters,” he said.

Kelley has worked for the University of Hawaii’s Department of Oceanography and as a program biologist for the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory. Kelley has worked on deep water fisheries, glass sponge taxonomy, seamount biology and geology and has helped to find historic deep-water shipwrecks. 

Between 1997 and 2013, Kelley took part in numerous Pisces IV and Pisces V submersible dives from the University of Hawaii ship Kai’imikai-o-Kanaloa, often working at depths between 200 and 2,000 meters. 

Kelley also led research efforts aboard the Schmidt Ocean institute’s research vessel Falkor, the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer and the Ocean Exploration Trust’s vessel Nautilus, mapping the seafloor using sonar and conducting hundreds of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives down to depths of 6000 meters. 

The Marine Science Center is also offering a new, in-depth interaction with lecturers in its “The Future of Oceans series: Deep Dive Conversations.” 

The center will host a limited attendance, science cafe-style deep dive conversation with Kelley on Zoom from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9. 

The moderated virtual discussion, which costs $5 per person, will primarily center around how ROVs are providing new insights into the deep-sea ocean environment, namely the densely packed communities of sponges and corals in the Pacific Ocean.

For more information on how to access either of the events, visit ptmsc.org/programs/learn/lecture-series.