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Journal 2- James Leichter:
Day 1: Monday, August 11, 2003
The start of the mission went off like clock-work today, and things are looking really good down here. With Mark and Hal already in the Habitat by about 7:30 this morning, the science team headed offshore at about 9:15 and we were in the water just after 10:00. The first dive included stopping at the Habitat to check in, but only long enough to stick our heads up in the Wet Porch, and then we headed off to our first work site down the reef at 100 feet deep. There is a new fill station at about 92 feet, much closer to our sites, so we don't have to swim all the way back to the Habitat to refill our tanks. After some initial work area Mike and I headed further down the slope to about 120 feet where we were pleasantly greeted by a nice wedge of cool subsurface water. On the bottom at that depth there are lots of the large macroalgae (seaweeds) that are a main focus of our study, so of course it is nice to find what you are looking for on the first dive…. We collected a few preliminary samples and made plans for several return
dives. After the morning dive we had our Habitat orientation and safety
briefing, which was only briefly interrupted by the sights of large fish
and a turtle gliding by the main viewport. And after lunch and lots of
unpacking of cameras, computers, electronics, clothes, food, notebooks
and everything else that we had sent down in the dry transfer "pots"
we made it out for an afternoon dive of about 3 hours. It is very exciting
to be here. |
Mission
Date: August, 2003 Mission Summary Aquanaut Profiles Expedition Journals Mission Pictures |
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