Daily Journal December 7, 2003


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December 7, 2003

The Slurp Gun sucks Pompeii worms from the vent site and then releases them into a chamber of the RNA Later Preservation System (a.k.a., “Artie”). Moments later, the chamber was sealed and pumped full of RNA Later to be brought back to the surface for analysis.

Dr. Tim Shank and Dr. Colleen Cavanaugh dissect a deep-sea mussel (Bathymodiolus thermophilus, “heat loving” organisms) that can house one or more symbiotic polychaete worms (“cold-loving” organisms). They are trying to better understand the relationship between the two species.

A fish gets in Alvin’s path and is in a hurry to get out of its way!

Check out these photos, which have been transmitted to the University of Delaware from the R/V Atlantis. We also have additional photos posted from yesterday's Alvin dive. Don't miss the view out Alvin's porthole!

Jugs of water are poured into the bioboxes in Alvin's basket before deployment to store some of the samples to be collected during the dive.

A nice group shot of Dr. George Luther (middle) and members of his University of Delaware lab: (from left to right) Dr. Greg Druschel (post-doc), Dr. “Kay” Kraiya (post-doc), and Brian Glazer (Ph.D. student).

Gavin Eppard (Alvin tech and pilot-in-training) hangs from the top of Alvin awaiting deployment. He and Jim McGill were the swimmers this morning.

“Catfish” mans the Avon to retrieve the swimmers from the water.

Wayne, the bosun aboard, gives José a lesson in the proper way to hold the line when pulling up equipment.

Don gives a tutorial on the inner workings of his geochemical analysis instrument, still unnamed.

Larry, the cook aboard Atlantis, prepares salmon as an option on tonight’s dinner menu.

After having had to wait an hour longer than usual this morning due to the 25-knot winds that delayed today’s deployment, Shannon finally got her first chance to dive in Alvin. Here, she tries to catch her breath after the shock of four buckets of ice-cold water. Now she is officially a “Deep-Sea Mariner!”

Huge deep-sea clams were collected during today’s dive.

Dr. Colleen Cavanaugh will study these deep-sea mussels that have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria.

Here are some additional images from yesterday's
Alvin dive — Dive # 3947 (December 6)

Instrumental Microcosm (IM) containing newly formed vent.

The IM is collected for analysis and put into one of the sample boxes.

Alvinella worm casings. Alvin has cleared the upper area for samples.

A life-sized cutout of David Olds, a former Alvin tech. It was created and placed on the seafloor as a way to honor David for his years of service to the Alvin group before having to leave. He was training as an Alvin pilot, but became ineligible due to health reasons.

A vacuum-like device called a Slurp Gun is used to collect worm samples to load in the “Artie” chambers. See the movie (at the top of this page) to witness it in action.