Photo by Dr. Edith Widder & Dr. Steve Bernstein
Celebrated marine biologist, oceanographer and inventor Dr. Edith Widder, best known for her ground-breaking work in capturing the first video images of the elusive giant squid in the wild, is coming to the Aquarium of the Pacific this Tuesday, August 27, to present a lecture titled, The Kraken Revealed: The Story Behind Finding the Giant Squid. The lecture begins at 7 PM.
Dr. Widder is also known for her breathtaking images of deep sea creatures, and has collaborated with her long time friend and Long Beach resident, Dr. Steve Bernstein, to produce an exhibition of photographs that are on display at the Aquarium through August 31.
“Steve and I have been friends for over 35 years,” Widder explained. “We knew each other in grad school and worked together on a big project related to bio-luminescence. Steve has collaborated with me out on a number of my deep-sea expeditions, but the art collaborations began only 2 years ago. I had no idea Steve has such artistic talent until I saw the digital art he’s been working on. I asked if he’d like to try his magic on some of my deep sea images and he said ‘Sure!'”
“I could not wait to get my hands on them,” Bernstein said. “I had seen many of these images before and was up for the challenge. This was different from my other art where I am allowed to have a total free hand in where it is going to go. With these images I needed to bring out the beauty but, at the same time, make sure that the animals were still recognizable. The end result on these were better than I could have imagined.”
“The original photos are unusual in that these animals are not easily accessible,” said Widder. “Most of them are deep-sea inhabitants that live at depths where the primary light source is bio-luminescence. To get high resolution photos like this, the animals need to be collected and brought into the lab on the ship where they can be photographed as living specimens – so unlike most images of deep-sea creatures which are usually dead and shriveled up in preservatives. Some of these were collected with very special deep sea nets that have a capture device on the end that keeps the animals cold as we bring them up through warm surface waters. The most fragile creatures had to be captured by submersible and then handled with great delicacy.
“Once I had the images,” Bernstein continued, “I first wanted to work with what was already in the images. The colors that were present, but could be brought out by increasing saturation and focus, for instance. I then came up with concepts on how we could put these things in varied context – such as putting an image into a highly colored background as I did with one of the squids, or brought out the colors in the another squid that is aptly named a jeweled squid, or taking a polychaete worm and turning it into a page of an 19th century book on animal classification with a diagramatic look. Finally, we decided to put the finished art on aluminum that has the metal coming through. This gives an amazing reflectivity that is similar to what you see when you shine lights on a lot of these animals.
“The process of transfer to metal is a process called dye sublimation. The digital images are printed out on paper using special dye sublimation inks. The aluminum is treated and coated with a polymer. The inked paper is then placed onto the metal and subjected to high heat – the heat transfers the ink into the polymer-coated aluminum, and is actually infused into the polymer. Finally, to protect the image, the final piece is coated with an acrylic layer.”
Dr. Widder’s fascination with the deep sea centers on photo-ecology.
“It is how animals respond to light, both the light they make called bio-luminescence, and the dim down-welling sunlight or moonlight that penetrates into the depths. I’ve said for years that I think we have been exploring the deep sea in the wrong way if we want to learn about the life of its inhabitants. I have developed unobtrusive ways of exploring using red light that is invisible to most deep-sea inhabitants, and optical lures that imitate certain bio-luminescent displays. I was invited on the giant squid expedition because of the hope that my very different approach would succeed where all previous giant squid hunts had failed.
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“I was pretty sure we would see things no one had seen before, but I was very unsure about the likelihood of seeing a giant squid. We actually got the first recordings on only the second deployment of my camera system, so we didn’t have to wait very long. Then, we had 5 more sightings after that. The whole experience vastly exceeded everyone’s expectations, as you may have gathered by all the yelling and screaming that went on, which they showed on the Discovery Channel special.”
In addition to their long time collaborations, Dr. Bernstein is an enthusiastic supporter of Dr. Widder’s organization, the Ocean Research and Conservation Association [ORCA], which will benefit from the sale of the photographic images.
“ORCA does great work in near shore environmental pollution mapping and conservation,” Dr. Bernstein said. “All of the proceeds from the sale of this artwork is being donated to ORCA to support these efforts. The prices range from $450 for smaller pieces to $950 for the largest piece, which is 40″x 40″. The gift store in the aquarium has the price list and can take orders. In addition, prints can be ordered at different sizes, with smaller pieces being less expensive. The sizes that are currently on display are limited editions of 25.”
Dr. Widder started ORCA in 2005 to develop technological solutions to ocean conservation challenges.
“It was my response to my rising dismay that we are destroying the ocean before we’re getting to find out what’s down there,” Widder said. “It’s incredible that even deep-sea squid are showing up with human toxicants in their bodies. All these pollutants come from land, so we have been developing ways to track and map pollution. One way we do this uses bio-luminescent bacteria as a text for toxicity. The cool thing about these bacteria is that their light output is linked to their respiratory chain, basically their breathing, so any pollutant that interferes with that dims their light. The bacteria thus provide a fast and relatively inexpensive way to find where pollution accumulates in coastal sediments.
“We found a high build up of pollutants in a lot of Florida’s finger canals, but there were two canals associated with a local golf course that were relatively clean. It turned out that the golf course uses best practices. So I went to the local city council and showed them the map and said, ‘You, too, can have a lawn as green as a country club and we can have a clean Indian River Lagoon.’ They passed a fertilizer ordinance in a matter of weeks. Maps really work for bringing about change. It stops the finger-pointing and makes clear where the real problems are.”
Dr. Bernstein agrees.
“What Edith says is also something that is important to coastal communities in California – especially Long Beach, which has water flow and pollutants coming from inland upstream communities. I believe that the type of water quality monitoring that Edith has developed can be used to help Long Beach’s waters.”
“Poor water quality is a problem nationwide,” Widder admits. “It’s impacting ocean health, and human health.”
Dr, Widder’s lecture begins at 7 PM. Admission is $5, and free for students, teachers and seniors with ID. If you can’t attend in person, the event will be streamed live, and viewers can interact in real time.
For more information about the exhibition, lecture, and other aquarium resources, visit AquariumOfPacific.org.
To learn more about Dr. Widder, her research, and conservation efforts, visit TeamORCA.org.
You can follow Dr. Bernstein’s creative efforts on facebook.
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