What's Happening Today - Nov. 19

The past few days have been exciting to say the least. On Saturday after lunch, a small Cessna single-prop. plane appeared out of the northern sky carrying on it a replacement Alvin viewport that had been hand delivered to Mexico. As we watched the small parachute come out of the plane and descend to the water we were giddy with expectation that we'd soon be diving to the seafloor with Alvin - getting a fish-eye view of all the lava flows we've been mapping the past 2 weeks.

Unfortunately, despite a Herculean effort by the WHOI's Deep Submergence Group on shore and Marine Operations personnel, it was not to be. When the viewport was unwrapped from the many layers of foam and bubble-wrap it was found to have a small chip on the edge of it so it cannot be installed in Alvin. We're not sure if it got dinged on the airplane, or as it was launched out of the plane.

One of the things I've learned after 30 years of going to sea and doing oceanography is that nothing ever succeeds exactly as planned. Frankly, that's one of the interesting and enjoyable things about doing this type of science. There are always challenges and unexpected events - sometimes good, sometimes not-so-good... But, what at first presents itself as a handicap can sometimes be viewed from the other side as a blessing.

So- everyone out here has been terrific in pitching in and helping us accomplish our slightly revised plan for the rest of the work to be done on this expedition. We have lots of ABE dives planned and additional DSL-120A sonar mapping to do. We are also preparing some deep sea cameras to use to take pictures of the lava flows we have mapped using the sonar data. And we will be sampling the lava flows using a dredge and a rock core. As you can read in our Mid-Cruise Report we have lots to do and grand plans for how to do it.

ABE is going back down to the seafloor tonight on dive #56 to motor along the East Pacific Rise crest. After we're sure that it is OK and doing what it's supposed to, we're going to head south for about 20 miles and do another sonar survey with the DSL-120A. We'll be back to pick up ABE tomorrow afternoon with plenty of time to spare before it surfaces.

In the meantime, the Alvin Group is getting the sub. ready for the next diving cruise that will start in early December. New viewports will be delivered to Mexico when we get back to port and installed. Pat Hickey, Bruce Strickrott, Tony Tarrantino and Gavin Eppard, the Alvin Group on board, are all helping us get our science done with the tools and vehicles we have, in addition to taking care of getting Alvin ready for its next diving program.

Big News today: Al Duester solved the puzzle of how to get the digital camera to trigger a deep sea strobe. WAY TO GO AL! We'll be taking photos of those lava flows soon.

Best Regards,

Dan Fornari

The airplane that delivered the viewport to R/V Atlantis on Saturday.

Crew and scientists gathered on the 02 level of R/V Atlantis to watch the parachute drop and recovery operation.

The Alvin support boat was used to recover the parachute and the package with the viewport.

Chris Haines, the 1st Engineer, making the rounds of the Engine Room. He is standing by the main diesel engines that provide power for the ship.

Pat Hickey (right), the Expedition Leader, and Gavin Eppard, of the Alvin Grouup, assemble the pool on the fantail. It's getting hot and everyone is looking forward to an afternoon pool break!

Yesterday, Gary Austin netted this sea turtle to check to see if it had a tag on it. We kept it calm and wet while on deck for a few minutes. No tag was found.

We tried to identify the turtle with the resources available on board. We think it is either a Ridley's or a Loggerhead, but we're not sure. Anyone who can identify the turtle please write to me at: dfornari@atlantis.whoi.edu. The turtle was released gently back into the water.

Tom Crook, our transponder navigation 'Guru', helping assemble the pool this afternoon.

Tony Tarrantino working today on Alvin electronic equipment. Tony is a Pilot-in-Training and hopes to become a certified Alvin pilot in the coming months.