Day 3

The JAMSTEC experiments are up and running. Mineo-san and Satoshi-san keep smiling and making notes. Greg and Ken record miles of video and shoot lots of pictures.

I'm on the morning dive. I invest a little time getting my gear right. I swap out a damaged mouth piece, relocate the tie wrap that was holding it in place and abrading my lip. Trying to get rid of those minor annoyances that turn in to torture on long dives.

I am getting more comfortable with Ken and Greg, so I can pay less attention to them and more to the locals. I don't see anything unusual, just have more time to interact. A lobster investigates my fingers; a small spotted moray likes my bubbles.

I am not needed in the afternoon, so I stay in and work on the computers.

Day 4

Three large Tarpon have joined the expedition during the night. They endless circle the habitat, passing close to the ports.

This morning I dive with Satoshi-san. He is doing a coral survey. We swim out with armfuls of cameras, measuring tapes, slates, and quadrant markers. He works hard while I try and guess what tool he will need next.

A yellow trumpet fish curves to fit the back of a roaming lobster. The theory I have heard is the trumpet fish are hoping that their prey will only notice the lobster and be surprised by the cleverly disguised trumpet fish. Anything that is fooled by this ruse deserves to be eaten.

The lobster nearly gets whacked by Satoshi's fin. "What was that?" the lobster wonders, then decides that further investigation is unwarranted. Curiosity probably is not a positive survival trait in Lobster.

The afternoon dive is to collect core samples. We coordinate with the JAMSTEC Surface Support crew. The drill gives problems and they run out of time. It is a job much better suited for the saturation team with our almost unlimited bottom time and Aquarius near by as a place to troubleshoot the drills. On the other hand, Mineo-san was still up at 3 am running experiments, so his crew may be trying to spread the load.

I know I am tired and I got to bed at a reasonable hour.