Alvin 2000: Dispatch 7

Sunday, April 23 - Another great series of dives!

Today's dive was a great success. Dr. Tim Shank dove with Cathy Allen to do some imaging of vents and to deploy some special temperature probes called "hobos". These probes are placed in hot vents, and will be collected on another cruise. The temperature of the hydrothermal water is measured hourly every day until the probe is recovered. Tim, Cathy and their pilot, Bruce, also brought us back some great stinky water from a high temperature vent for our group to analyze.

Tomorrow's dive is another special one. Very rarely, the scientists will volunteer to take an Atlantis crew member down on Alvin. Usually, the crew only gets to work up on the surface, keeping Atlantis ship shape and making the lives of the scientists extremely comfortable on this floating home away from home. Very few crew members have ever had a dive, as there are no spare dives for them to get to the sea floor. But on this cruise, the chief scientist decided to have a lottery for a seat on tomorrow's dive. The lucky winner is diving tomorrow. The goal will be to collect more hot water for the water chemists, as well as more visual imaging for the biology crew.

The excitement of this evening were the "herds" of squid off the starboard side of the ship. The squid seem to be attracted to the bright lights of the ship. Fishing poles were soon over the side and squid were caught for us to eat for an upcoming dinner. The squid caught were about a foot long and were not happy about being caught. They sprayed ink all over the deck of the ship.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more news from Atlantis.

Other dispatches:

First dispatches from April 9th and 10th
Project overview and launch information!

Dispatch from April 12th
While heading out to dive area 9 North, the crew spots a few interesting sea animals. Much of the time is spent unpacking and testing equipment.

Dispatch from April 13th
Atlantis reaches 13 degrees latitude. Alison and crew test and retest the titanium collection bottles.

Dispatch from April 14th
The first dive of the expedition-Alison joins the crew! Researchers collect anenomes and fluids surrounding hydrothermal vents.

Dispatch from April 15th
Three dives have been completed. The day is spent retrieving cameras, analyzing hydrogen sulfide samples, and training new Alvin pilots.

Dispatch from April 17th
Not all time aboard Atlantis is work! Although shifts are often long, breaks allow for games and relaxation.

Dispatch from April 23rd
Temperature probes are placed near the vents. A lottery to join the crew of Alvin!

Dispatch from April 24th
The last dives of the trip...See how water pressure affects ordinary objects at extreme depths!

Dispatch from April 25th
This incredible voyage aboard Atlantis comes to an end. It's on to Mexico, and finally, back to New Hampshire to analyze our samples.