I always wake up in time to watch the Alvin launch; there's always something cool to see.Today was no exception (although, waking up at 5:30 having been up late for the Halloween party the night before was a bit rough). The launch weather this morning was iffy at best. Winds were high and there were fairly large swells, but no one seemed worried. Every time I watch a launch or a recovery, I'm struck by the smoothness of the operation. Everyone has a job to do, and they do it well.

Today's mission was to go to Q-Vent, retrieve the "frying pan" unit from an area of diffuse flow, get some Alvinella, and take Sipper samples from warm Alvinella tubes.Traveling in the sphere today was pilot Bruce Strickrott and scientists Liz McCliment and Kevin Fielman. This was Kevin's first dive. You can see by the photos that he was really excited to get his first personal look at the worms he's been studying. I took his pulse before he got on the sub. It was 104! He was definitely stoked. The launch went smoothly, though it was tough for the swimmers. Gavin, who was swimming that day, came by to have his pulse taken for fun. I guess he didn't want to be left out. I had a really hard time finding his pulse — I just figured he had come to the party last night as a vampire and forgotten to change back. (It was actually really low — only 56 — he's pretty cool under pressure.) Gavin told me later that it was one of the tougher swims he's had to do. It must not have been TOO tough as his pulse was a whopping 72. But you never know; big swells and fast currents make for an interesting time.

This morning I helped Kurt Williamson test the pumping rate for "The Wommacker" (the Large Volume Water Sampler).The Wommacker is deployed over the side of the ship in the evenings near a vent. It's marked with a transponder, and Alvin finds it in the morning to turn it on so that the two large bags (about 50 liters per bag) can fill up.The pumps need to be turned off and Alvin releases the array to come back to the surface. Kurt and Bekki weren't sure how long it takes to fill the bags, so they decided to test it in the pool. I volunteered to help yesterday, thinking it would be great to be in the pool getting some sun while working on the equipment.

You can imagine how I felt looking out at the pouring rain. Although the water is a balmy 83°F right now, the wind was really blowing and the rain was cold. Good thing for me that the Alvin crew has lots of wet suits. I borrowed one from Gavin and spent a nice 40 minutes in the rain and wind filling the bags and checking the pumping rate. Bekki missed out on the fun as she was helping in the galley today. Kurt just got soaked from the rain. The bags took only 30 minutes to fill up, so it was worth the work.

Today was also a phone call to the deep. Jen and I went to the bridge to listen in to the phone call. It was great to listen to Chief Scientist Dr. Craig Cary, Expedition Leader Pat Hickey, and the crew in the Alvin answer all the excellent questions. Special thanks to Dr. Andy Berglund for making a guest appearance on the call. I'd also like to let our friends at Northwest High School in Opelousas, Louisiana, know that we're thinking about them and hoping that everyone is safe and unharmed. Their classroom was demolished by a tornado on Tuesday. Please write and let us know how you are.

One of the most striking things about a cruise like this is the pace of life among the scientists. Some of them have been working almost non-stop since we started diving; others are in a "hurry up and wait" mode. They can't do much while the sub is diving; they have to wait for samples from the bottom before really getting to work So during the day, they check samples from the day before, but they really live for the time in the afternoon when the science report comes up. This is when the port observer calls up with a report telling what kind of samples they've brought back. The report is disseminated, and people get ready for the recovery of Alvin.

Today's catch was pretty good: four enormous and undamaged worms, a black smoker, 11 Sipper samples, and the frying pan. This is the first time I've seen the frying pan. It's meant to be deployed on a hot (170–280°C) diffuse vent and to collect the "stuff" that precipitates around it. It came back covered in sulfides. A small chimney had started to form around the unit, and it was absolutely covered with black precipitate. The group from Arizona State University (Peggy, Eileen, and Dawn) was very happy with the collection.

So, everyone is working on his or her samples. Barb is culturing bacteria; Andy has dissected the worms, collected eggs and blood, and has frozen the rest of the tissue for later analyses. Andy and Dave Shin are giving a talk tonight on their work. Its title is "RNA Splicing in Deep-Sea Worms." Check with me later for the highlights.