We've all been together in tight quarters for what seems like a very long time. Brad made the unfortunate mistake of staging out for a dive and leaving his email open on the computer desktop. We took full advantage of the situation by sending his boss a resignation letter and a few of his acquaintances love letters. Brad is still young; he has not yet learned that you cannot trust coworkers.

Obviously, one of the side effects of saturation diving is a condition called nitrogen narcosis. This condition is caused by excess nitrogen that accumulates in the blood, and what results is the perception that almost everything is funny. It makes the last days of our long mission a lot fun. Needless to say, our sense of humor does not always translate well to families and friends in contact via email.

We continue to make long night dives, but we have streamlined our protocols to make the most efficient use of time and diving. Everyone, both inside the habitat and on the reef, knows exactly what to do. Night divers wear a special mask that allows for communication with a scientist inside the habitat (we're connected to Aquarius by a hose that provides air and communications). Using this system, we can coordinate overall diver activities, including turning plankton sampling pumps on and off multiple times, and controlling camera operations. Also, when you're out alone on the reef in the darkness of night (we do not use diver lights during the experiments because they would attract unnatural amounts of plankton), at the long and wet end of hose diving, it is comforting to have someone inside Aquarius to talk to about the roving sharks.

In addition to the science, the habitat life support systems are continually monitored and maintained at all times. There are two NURC/UNCW "habitecs" living with us inside Aquarius who are responsible for the life support systems during the mission, and they are backed up by the highly competent support staff back at the Key Largo Mission Control center. In addition to helping us with our projects, some of the things that the habitecs do on a daily basis include: maintaining life support systems, keeping dive logs and helping us plan dive activities, outside maintenance of plumbing and habitat systems (and this includes a lot of cleaning to remove marine growth), and solving all the daily routine things that come up (and any emergency situation that might result) - no small task! Luckily, the two technicians (Thor and Hutch) assigned to this mission also have a great sense of humor.

It's a good group. We have yet to vote anyone out of the "Key Largo Survivor" show -- mostly because we need every diver we can get!