Yesterday we started the mission right on schedule at 10:00 in the morning. The dive to start a mission always seems to bring with it a combination of feelings. There is excitement at the prospect of descending on what seems like a normal scuba dive, but not planning to come up for 10 days. There is also nervousness because after weeks (and maybe months) of planning it's finally time to find out if you've really remembered everything you'll need for an intensive study period - and for life underwater.

It was a beautiful day at the surface - hot and sunny - and as we hit the water we immediately noticed that the visibility was tremendous. Floating over our 33 m depth site we could easily see the sand from the surface. Also the water was surprisingly warm - nearly 29 C even at the bottom at 33 m feet. But this all changed, and changed quickly about an hour into the dive. A front of cold, cloudy water came sliding up on the reef. The advancing internal bore was several meters in height, and so brown and thick with plankton that it looked like a dark cloud rolling in. Suddenly hundreds of small fish started to dart out from their hiding places in the reef's nooks and crannies to feed on the temporary bonanza. This phenomenon of cold water delivery to the reef is exactly what we came here hoping to see first hand, so you can imagine the excitement of getting a great "show" on the first dive of the first day.