It is with no small amount of amazement that I sit here on my first night as an aquanaut, watching thousands of tiny larvae swarm at the window, with smaller fish behind and the large predatory snook swimming beyond, hoping for dinner. As I was swimming back to Aquarius along the excursion line at twilight, from the deep sandy plain where we had been working, I felt so lucky to be staying down below with the creatures I was swimming over. Mark Erdmann and I were searching for Odontodactylus havanensis burrows (one of the stomatopod (mantis shrimp) species we’re studying). They live in several holes, lined with small stones, and we would see their eyes poking up. If it looked like no one was home, we’d gently insert one end of our marking flags down - sometimes we’d feel a sharp smack as the ‘pod inside hit the stick with his or her raptorial appendage. We found 20 burrows in 2-3 hours of diving time, which we flagged for more detailed mapping tomorrow, so we’re pleased. Pam and Alex also had success in their search for the tiny sand dwelling Nannosquilla, finding both parents, eggs, and larvae all in one burrow (and managing to catch them for further study!). We’re spending the evening getting organized, trying to catch stomatopods in the plankton (so far unsuccessful) and trying to set up the video camera (so far unsuccessful). We’ll keep trying, and hopefully our fearless leader Roy can help us troubleshoot!