After being down here for 9 days you forget the extra pressure that your body experiences, it is only occasionally that we are given reminders, the most obvious is our wetsuits. Normally these are very elastic when we put them and it can sometimes be a bit of a struggle to get them on, now after 9 days the air pockets within them have been compressed, they have no elasticity and feel almost like wet jeans.

The last day diving was phenomenal, as all the others have been. After hitting the water at 11:00 (after our compulsory 12 hours out of the water) we did depth transects down the reef. Normally this sort of diving is a hectic and hurried affair because you are severely limited by your bottom time. However diving out of the Aquarius without the normal limits makes this sort of work a pleasure. After spending about 4 hours in the water during the afternoon we went out for our last night dive at 9:00 pm. One of the main reasons for this dive was looking a fluorescent coral pigment. Under the black light you see a variety of fluorescent reds and greens that burst from the darkness. Also during the dive we stumbled across a small moray eel hunting amongst the corals. After being initially bothered by our lights it soon regained it's composure and began searching the bottom for prey.

I can say safely say that our nine days under water have been an experience of a lifetime. Before I forget I have the thank the NURC staff, both Otter and James that have been trapped with us for 9 days and the numerous support staff on the surface. This sort of research requires a huge number of people working to support the mission, they have all been happy to do almost anything they can to make our life easier (I am sure our almost constant changing plans have frustrated them no end). Their motto seems to be best summed up by one of Otter's favourite sayings "the science comes first", so I just want to say thanks to everyone from NURC.

Cheers from Aquarius

Bill