I downloaded email today and checked the NY Times web site. We really aren't that far removed from everyday business living inside Aquarius. However, our commute to work is unique. The NE reef sites are almost 2000 feet from Aquarius. We have navigation lines to help us find our way and we can also use the lines to pull hand-over-hand to give our legs a rest from kicking - our "lifelines." And we have more than three!

About 900 feet from Aquarius we have a "way-station" with communication back to Aquarius and an underwater tank "filling station." The way-station is our mini-habitat during excursions to this part of the reef. Lately, we've stashed drinks inside the way-station to help us stay hydrated. We cover a lot of seascape on our treks out to the work sites, and we burn a lot of calories. We have small snacks in the way-station too.

We finished the deepest two NE reef sites this morning. Like Steve Gittings, I'm a little disappointed that the deep reefs are not in better shape. We need to work our data up, but it seems clear that the decline we've seen throughout the Keys at shallower sites is apparent at these sites too. We have at least two other deep reef locations to visit on this mission so I don't want to jump to conclusions. We will compare data from 1994 and 1998 to know precisely how much change occurred. The additional sites that we will set up on this mission will help us understand the magnitude of change in a diversity of deep reef habitats. Surprisingly, there's a lot of variation as you move from one site to another on a reef, even at the same depths. Our sampling strategy includes work at a lot of sites to make sure our observations truly reflect the big picture view of what's happening at Conch Reef. Aquarius gives us the bottom time to accomplish all our work. Working from the surface using conventional diving techniques (even nitrox) would take us months to get the same amount of work done.

The big question on everyone's mind is what's killing the reefs in Florida? The answer is complicated. I put together an overview that describes many of the factors affecting the way coral reefs look in Florida, so link to my review if you're interested - click here.