We usually go out each morning and each afternoon for 3 hours at a time, but we need to come back once during that time to replenish the air in our tanks. Although the water is quite warm (about 27 degrees C), we do get cold after a while. It is great to come back because Jim and Byron (our techs and all around voices of reason) bring us hot chocolate or hot soup, which really keeps us going.

We saw some amazing fish today. There are several large schools of jacks swimming around in perfect formation, and a nurse shark crept up on Beth as she was doing a profile near the chambers. This evening we were working until dusk, and spent 10 minutes looking in close up at the reef with our dive lights - the color looks really different compared to "normal" because only blue light penetrates to 50 feet, so the reef usually has a brownish-bluish tinge. It's only under an artificial light you realize how brightly colored everything really is down here. I saw some tiny little crabs that were exactly the same bright orange-red as the sponge they were living in. It's only when you really have the time to look around (as we do) that you realize that the small stuff can be even more cool looking than the big stuff.