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Jen and Hepsi share a pre-dive laugh. Jen, though outwardly calm,
was up and prowling around at 5:30 a.m. |
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Jen’s sending a few last e-mails before launch. Gee, she doesn't
look nervous! |
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Jen’s pensive pre-dive look. |
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Sometimes an interesting experiment comes to you, and you just
have to find out the answer. Ed, a Styrofoam head which was signed
by all the crew and science party, was such a case. The crew was
just as curious as the science party about the fate of Ed’s
Head. Jack McGrath checks out the placement of Ed. It was about
28 cm high before the dive. |
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Catfish and Hepsi take off in the Avon to film. |
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Catfish and Hepsi are in prime position. |
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Prepare
to Dive!
The
Alvin is slowly lowered into the water. On this day,
the seas were kind and cradled the sub nicely. This makes for
a nice ride within the sphere. Swimmers Gavin Eppard and Tony
"The Meatball Kid" Tarantino release the sub from its
lines. |
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View
of the Atlantis
from Avon
Just
a reminder of why it’s not a good idea to take on a ship
that’s bigger than you. |
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A Riftia community at Tica. |
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The view from the pilot's window at Tica. This is a healthy colony
of Riftia. |
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Recovery of the mineral microcosms that have been deployed for
five days. |
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The ASU science party has been deploying a variety of these microcosms
that are baited with a variety of minerals (such as iron and zinc
sulfides). The traps are baked to sterilize them and then deployed
at the vent area in water that is between 150–200°C.
When the traps are recovered, they will be analyzed for microbial
activity. They know that any microbial action found on the traps
will be from vent communities. |
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Pilot Bruce Strickrott collects a Sipper sample from a colony of
Alvinella pompejana at Q
vent. |
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Bruce and Jen celebrate a great dive. Bruce had good reason to
smile. He collected a huge amount of great samples and brought
back the two microbial microcosms. Jen was smiling because she
had a great dive too!
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