He walked around with his mug of coffee and heartily greeted the crew. He was informed that their honored guests—journalists from the New York Times, National Geographic, and BBC Future—were awaiting him in the galley where they were having breakfast.
Captain Toby made his way into the Sea Searcher I and snuck a peek through the porthole window of the galley door to determine whether the group had finished their breakfast. He didn’t want to intrude on their meal. Plus, he wanted their undivided attention as he explained what they should expect that day.
Satisfied they were finished and enjoying a second mug of coffee, he took a deep breath and entered. This expedition was being followed closely in the media but more importantly by his benefactors at Woods Hole and those who provided their funding, namely Knight Gruppe AG, an Austrian-based philanthropic firm with a worldwide presence in all manners of industry, banking and real estate. While he’d never met the principals of the firm, he knew they were committed to his research of these waters, and that was all that mattered to him.
“Good morning, all!” he cheerily greeted as he entered through the galley door.
“Captain Toby!” one of the journalists responded. “We were just talking about you.”
He laughed. “As well you should. Today is a momentous day for us all.” He gestured at one of the galley crew to ready a large round table at the far end of the galley next to a whiteboard. Chairs were set into place, and charts were spread out for viewing.
“Tell us more, Captain Toby,” an enamored woman from the New York Times said.
“Please join me over here, if you don’t mind. You are my students for the day. It’s time to learn about isopods, tanaids, and leptostracans.”
“How exciting?” said the BBC Future journalist sarcastically.
Captain Toby laughed, although he didn’t see the humor in such an amazing discovery. Based on his conversations with the Brit the night before, he wondered if the older man was there for the scientific discovery or for an opportunity to take a boat ride on the beautiful waters.
Everyone took a seat, leaving their unfinished coffee mugs behind. Now, each of them had their computer tablets open to take notes. Captain Toby rearranged the chart until the largest was on top. The laminated map revealed the area stretching north of Puerto Rico and included the U.S. coastline for reference.
“This whole area is commonly referred to as the Bermuda Triangle. Of course, that is a myth of epic proportions, but it does provide us a point of reference for our discussion. Several years ago, when I was employed by the U.S. Geological Survey, we were on a mapping expedition of this region to study the complex transition between the Lesser Antilles subduction zone to the south and the major transform fault zone, which extends from this point past Cuba and through the Cayman Trough to Central America.”
He ran his index finger along the northern side of the islands into the Caribbean Sea. He continued. “You see, I have long had a theory that tsunami activity impacting Puerto Rico had actually been triggered by the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Through my research, I focused on the fault along the Puerto Rico Trench, which leads directly to what is known as the Milwaukee Deep, an elongated depression that constitutes the floor of the trench. It is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, with a reading of nearly twenty-nine thousand feet.”
“How does it compare to, say, um, the Mariana Trench?” asked the female reporter from the Times.
“Certainly, Mariana is known as the deepest. Within the vast bodies of water that cover over seventy percent of our planet, there are seven points considered deeper than the Milwaukee Deep, but none have been left unexplored like this one.
“Efforts to complete mapping of this trench have been undergoing for quite some time. With advanced technology, especially the addition of deep-diving manned submersibles together with the newly manufactured fleet of remote operating vehicles, ocean explorers can supplement surface mapping with visual observations.”
The reporter from National Geographic asked, “How did you discover these new species?”
Captain Toby stood up from the table and waved over one of his research assistants who stood dutifully by. She knew what he was going to request without a word spoken between them. He and his team had met in the operations room of the Sea Searcher I the night before to discuss their interaction with the media. It was important the reporters be told what to report rather than take it on themselves to create a story. Controlling the message resulted in good press. Good press resulted in larger and larger amounts of funding for their future projects.
“We’ve prepared this detailed analysis for your reference. Inside, you’ll find bullet points that highlight our research together with the details surrounding our findings within the body of the report.” Talking points, based on theory.
“Thank you, Captain Toby,” said the New York Times reporter. “I really wanted to take in this exciting opportunity to observe your work without having to spend most of my day in my cabin on Google.”
Captain Toby glanced at the woman’s left hand in search of a wedding ring. He smiled inwardly. He might have to provide her an exclusive interview.
“During a recent mapping expedition, one of our research teams discovered an ocean zone, a rare light region that extended four hundred feet to a thousand feet in depth, halfway to the bottom of the Milwaukee Depth. The rariphotic zone was sandwiched between two other regions of the ocean known for their unique biological communities. It was worthy of further study, so the Sea Searcher I was dispatched with my team aboard.
“Using Argus ROVs, we explored this rariphotic zone and discovered the interesting creatures I mentioned previously, in addition to unique green
