Dive Into Your Imagination

Have you ever dreamt of living underwater?  Sarah Fangman is one of the few people to ever live out this dream when she spent ten days doing research in an underwater laboratory!  She is now the Program Coordinator for the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico Region of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries where she continues to live out her dream of protecting the oceans.

What is the Aquarious Habitat, and what was it like to be a part of a saturation mission?
Aquarius is the world’s only underwater research laboratory (often called the “habitat”) and it is located off of Key Largo, Florida.  The habitat is in 60 feet of water, and scientists can live in it for up to ten days at a time.  “Aquanauts” as they are called, can spend hours outside of the habitat (on SCUBA) conducting research on the reefs surrounding Aquarius.  If the aquanauts were using traditional scuba methods it would require considerable more time to accomplish the same work.  I participated in two saturation missions, where we were conducting fish tagging and tracking (similar to the work I’m now doing in Georgia).  Living underwater was an amazing experience, as you are able to “be with the fishes” morning, noon and night.  Living on the reef allows you to observe the rhythm of the reef in a way not possible when you are just visiting for a few minutes at a time.  It was magical to have the opportunity to fall asleep below the waves and wake up there too.  One of my favorite memories was observing a lightning storm from underwater one evening.  The habitat has several large view ports, and we watched as each flash of lightning would light up the reef outside showing fish cruising about the reef, that the moment before we were unable to see in the dark.  Very cool.

That sounds like an amazing experience! Can you tell us about your experiences with submersibles? 
I have had the opportunity to dive in three different submersibles – all very different experiences.  One carried three people (Alvin – where I dove to almost 10,000 in the Gulf of Mexico) one carried two (Delta – where I dove in the Channel Islands off of Southern California) and the third was a single person submersible (DeepWorker – where I also dove in the Channel Islands).  While it was really fun to learn how to pilot the DeepWorker, and to go to the deep, dark of the ocean, I prefer when someone else is driving!  It allows me to focus on what I’m down there to observe!  When you are also driving and communicating with the surface vessel, it is more difficult to get work done. 

You really have done some incredible things.  What kind of projects are you working on now for NOAA? 
I am co-Principle Investigator for a study of the movement of grouper and snapper in Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary (which is located off the coast of Georgia).  We have captured gag, scamp, and red snapper and surgically implanted tags which allow us to track fish movement within Gray’s Reef.  We have 14 acoustic receivers placed around the sanctuary, which can detect each fish’s unique signal and tell us when the fish is around a given receiver.  We hope to use this information to better protect these important species.

Why do you feel Marine Sanctuaries such as the Channel Islands need to be protected?
The Channel Islands, where I spent the first eight years of my career with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, is an incredibly diverse and biologically rich area.  Because of the abundance of natural and cultural resources that surround the Channel Islands, it was established as a national marine sanctuary almost 30 years ago.  As Research Coordinator for the Channel Islands sanctuary, I had the opportunity to observe and study an incredible array of marine life –whales, dolphins and pinnepeds (seals and sea lions), seabirds, fish, kelp forests and everything that lives there – it was an amazing opportunity.  I now work with three other marine sanctuaries – Gray’s Reef, Flower Garden Banks and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuaries.  Each of these was established due to its special conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, research, educational, or aesthetic resources.

You clearly love everything that you do, what advice do you have for someone who wants to follow their own dreams?
I think that doing something that you love helps lead to success.  And because I love what I do, I am often willing to grasp every new opportunity that comes my way – allowing me to gain a wide variety of experience.  I also feel that having passion and a willingness to work hard, as well as being willing to work with others has served me well.  I think if people find something they love it becomes less work and more fun!

In your opinion, what is the single most important action someone can do to help protect the ocean and our planet?
Learn more and tell others!  The more people know about the ocean, I find that they are more inclined to want to see it protected.  So by learning more, I think people will be inspired to do more – including sharing what they know! 

Sarah Fangman grew up in the in the heart of the frigid Midwest—Minneapolis Minnesota, but after one vacation to the Caribbean she quickly fell in love with the ocean and all of its creatures.  She later decided to make scientific research her life’s focus and went on to receive her B.A. in Environmental Studies and Biology from Middlebury College in 1990. After college, Sarah began her career working in marine education – at a Caribbean field station teaching college students about dolphins, sea turtles and coral reefs. During this time, she was diving daily to depths of up to two hundred feet. While she loved introducing young people to the wonders of the marine environment, she wanted to do more to help preserve marine life and decided to go back to school.  Sarah enrolled in the University of Washington’s Master of Marine Affairs program and graduated in 1996. At the University, she studied marine resource management, economics, law and other subjects that equipped her with the skills necessary to help protect the marine life that she so cherishes. During graduate school, she began working for NOAA as a research assistant, and was hired after finishing at the University of Washington.  She is currently NOAA’s Program Coordinator for the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico Region.

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