Hey folks,
Repairs and sea trials are complete, and we are headed to the other group's site, which is a borehole placed by the Ocean Drilling Project. They are going to collect a number of samples, deploy some new sensors, and recover a hole cover they call a "cork". I will not be getting any new samples, so i completed another series of comparative studies today on a species called Paralvinella palmiformis. I normally work on P. sulfincola.
With luck and good weather (*knocking on every piece of wood i see*) we should be able to get a total of 9 dives, one more than the best scenario we were given a couple days ago. So, woohoo!
This is a quick update cause i'm tired and i'm gonna try to make breakfast tomorrow. I'm going to use the "down" time to do a number of control trials, testing pump flow rates, probe calibrations, etc. Fun times. Oh, I went out on the bow tonight. The stars were gorgeous. I could see the Dipper, Casseopea (sp?), Scorpio, Mars (i think), and the band of the milky way. It was awe inspiring. Nature rox!
Ciao 4 now.
My cute little worms! Their gills are red because they are filled with blood like us.
A glassy day on the Juan de Fuca. Rare, indeed.
