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Journal 4b- Bill Leggat: Day 2: Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Today has been spent mostly in the habitat doing experiments and peering out the viewports at the world going by. It is amazing how disconnected we are from the real world and yet at the same time how connected we are. We can't determine what is going on at the surface yet at the same time I can access the internet and read a paper from Australia. Our surface crew told us that the weather conditions on the surface were terrible today (4 to 6 foot swell with a strong wind). When they came out to collect some larvae some of them even had to lean over the side and "feed the fish". Down here though we can hardly tell the difference between a perfect day and a raging storm. The only difference is the habitat air pressure changes slightly in high seas whenever a large swell on the surface goes over, causing our ears to equalize. The constant changing of pressure takes a while to get used to; it feels like you are continually going up and down in an elevator and can be disconcerting. I managed to get one dive in today. Although the visibility was poor (15m), Josh and I still saw a large Eagle ray swimming about 2 foot from the bottom, they are amazingly graceful in the water. Ove and I are planning on another night dive tonight to check some corals, hopefully we will be back in the habitat by 10:30 so we can get some sleep. Unfortunately, one unlucky member of our team will have to check the corals just outside the aquarium ever hour until midnight, hopefully someone else will volunteer for this assignment. As I am finishing up writing I can see James (one of the habitat technicians) just outside the viewport doing maintenance on the Aquarius, it is a bit startlingly the first time you see someone swimming by your "window". Cheers from Aquarius Bill
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Mission
Date: June, 2002 Mission Summary Aquanaut Profiles Expedition Journals Mission Pictures |
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