Compared to yesterday's predawn spawning dive to see Halimeda and the evening full moon adventure on hookah, today was a "regular" day at the office for us. After our fifteen minute commute to the Pinnacle site we went out to set up a nutrient enrichment experiment that will start tomorrow. We tagged and measured Halimeda tuna plants for both treatment (with nutrient additions) and control individuals (without nutrient additions). We were working in a corner of our study site that is fairly sparse in distribution of our plant, but chock full of Dictyota (a brown seaweed). It took us most of the morning to find 20 pairs of plants.

At 7:30 am the barrel sponges were releasing gametes again today, as they did yesterday. It was an underwater snowstorm, which left white flock strewn all over the reef. Mini-volcanoes erupting in sixty feet of seawater certainly made me do a double take! ( I can feel nitrogen narcosis setting in as I try to type simple words and thank technology for spell check.) We returned for lunch after four hours of work.

Natalie and Rick from CNN came back again today to chat and draw blood from one of the habitat technicians. They wanted to demonstrate what nitrogen saturated blood would do when brought to the surface without decompressing…it boils. Dr. VanEvery came to check up on us as well and informed me that I had an outer ear infection and should sit out for the afternoon dive. She prescribed some antibiotic eardrops and an oral antibiotic as well. E'bett also had a mild infection and one of the habitat technicians had a slightly irritated ear. This is one of the common maladies of saltwater submersion for prolonged periods of time despite preventative drops after each dive. While I was reluctant to stay behind while my fellow aquanauts went off to work for the afternoon, I felt the throbbing in my ears and acquiesced.

Last night's hookah adventure is my interesting story. How novel it is to go out into the water and not have to worry about dive tables or how much air I had left for my dive. The hookah is a dive setup that is connected directly to Aquarius. Thus, unlimited air. I wanted to explore around the Aquarius site at night. My only limitation was to stay between 45 and 50 feet, otherwise I would be penalized later on my next dive. I found a basket star, which was perched atop a gorgonian fan with its finely branched arms extended. It collects food from the water column and then gently retracts its arms to its mouth, "licking" off its catch. I watched for about 15 minutes in amazement. Such a beautifully symmetrical pattern to this animal and yet it is solely for maximizing its surface area for collecting food. Underwater artwork is what I call it!

I began to realize that the ambient light was from the full moon - not the sun - and that's when I shut off my light and the giggling started. Streamers of bioluminescent animals were lighting up the water like a disco. It was better than a disco because I could dance weightlessly, so I did. The habitat was playing Sting on request and it was clear as a bell. My favorite song across the underwater "hailer" and I just reveled in the fact that I was 50 feet deep, at night, in the Atlantic, watching my own private light show. As I laughed almost continuously between breaths, I noticed a stream of bioluminescence behind my fins. So I swam backwards, upside down, and in circles just flying with giddy excitement. As the time approached when I was supposed to return to the habitat I realized I was probably narced and did not want to return - I was having so much fun. I collected my hose and headed back, the least fun part of an absolutely unforgettable day.