We are now locked in the habitat and undergoing the slow process of decompression. Because are bodies are saturated with nitrogen at a pressure of about 2.5 atmospheres (we actually reached the saturation point after our first 24 hours of the mission), if we just swam to the surface our insides would effervesce like a freshly opened can of soda. This can have severe consequences, and may even cause permanent disability. We therefore have to take 17 hours slowly adjusting our bodies to surface pressure again. This involves an hour breathing pure oxygen to help remove the excess nitrogen and then slowly reducing the pressure in the Habitat to that of the surface. We are currently at a pressure of 25 feet of seawater.

One of the NURC technical staff (Mark Hulsbeck) has entered the habitat to help us through this long day and night. This has made it very crowded, but he came bearing gifts of fresh food and so was welcomed warmly. It is strange sitting in here, just looking out of the window at the passing schools of fish, rather than being amongst them. For us this odyssey started four long years ago, and it is nearly at end. Our progress was thwarted by hurricanes (Floyd postponed the original date last year) and the police (John Bythel was arrested on the way to the airport for speeding), and we have endured arduous training, equipment failures, and soggy decaying skin. But above all we have collected the data we came for, and have had an intense experience. The group has worked well, and a great sense of enjoyment and fun has prevailed (helped along by the narcotizing effect of the nitrogen). We will all be sad to return to the surface, but we will be back in the future to continue our quest to explore the frontiers of the underwater world.