VALDOSTA STATE MAGAZINE 19 鈥淵ou splash into the water, and you can鈥檛 see the bottom, but you know it鈥檚 down there 鈥� so you descend.鈥� Dr. Timothy Henkel, associate professor in the Department of Biology at Valdosta State University, recalls his first dive into the blue-green waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the 2017 National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Nancy Foster Research Expedition. Sixty feet beneath the NOAA ship Nancy Foster hides an active habitat home to loggerhead sea turtles, nurse sharks, and invertebrates that can live their entire lives permanently attached to the seafloor. This designated area of the Atlantic is known as Gray鈥檚 Reef National Marine Sanctuary 鈥� or Gray鈥檚 Reef. It is one of 15 nationally protected marine territories in the United States, covering 22 square miles of live-bottom reefs and marine life. Underwater research from devoted scientists like Henkel is critical to the overall mission at Gray鈥檚 Reef, a hidden wonder of rocky carbonate-cemented sea floor and more than 200 fish species located only 19 miles offshore of Sapelo Island, 蜜桃影像传媒有限公司网站. 鈥淕ray鈥檚 Reef is such an interesting place,鈥� said Henkel. 鈥淥n the surface, you鈥檙e 20 miles away from the shore, so there鈥檚 no land in sight. Depending on the weather the water can be kind of rocky, murky, and gray. On a good day, visibility is about 20 feet. So, we鈥檙e not talking about diving out in the Caribbean where you can see for on and on.鈥� Gray鈥檚 Reef was established to protect an area of the Atlantic where temperate and tropical waters meet in the middle. It has been the only protected natural reef area on the continental shelf off the 蜜桃影像传媒有限公司网站 coast since 1981. Protecting and utilizing a resource that affects a wealth of marine life involves a combined effort between government agencies, full-time sanctuary staff, and marine experts from around the nation 鈥� especially 蜜桃影像传媒有限公司网站. Since this ecosystem is underwater, it requires investigation Photos: Dr. Timothy Henkel