Yesterday was a 4½ hour dive, cleaning pieces and parts on Aquarius. I find it hard to believe that every technician who comes down here spends a great majority of his time cleaning valves, piping, and plumbing. It seems like it was never done before. The ocean is a very beautiful, but an inhospitable place for man because the sea tries to claim everything in her contact for her own. But the crew maintains Aquarius and refuses to let things go - so it's an on going battle. Who knows who will win? The sea is trying to build reefs and Aquarius is a great building site.

One of the most beautiful things is a creature called the Christmas Tree Worm or Spirobtanchus giganteus. This is a small worm that lives in a hard tube and is so fast when it retracts into its home that it's just gone. The feather top is between ½" to 1" high and you must approach it really slow to study it. It is so delicate that you would think it couldn't survive, but there are thousands of these on Aquarius and each is like a snow flake because it is different from the all rest.

Today I meet an "old" resident of Conch Reef, an old Southern Stingray (Dasyatis Americana) named "Stubby." Part of his tail is gone, so his name fits him well and makes him easily identifiable. He buried himself in the sand about 100 feet from the Aquarius habitat and we both studied each other for about 10 minutes. Some old salt (Otter) says he's been here long before the Aquarius habitat got here and judging by his five foot span, I agree.

More to come tomorrow.