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Mud bath

January 5, 2007

When Mark Spear stepped out of the submersible Alvin as WHOI’s newest deep-sea pilot, fellow pilot Gavin Eppard greeted him with a traditional baptism on the deck of R/V Atlantis. Spear is the 36th person to complete pilot training in the 42-year history of the submersible. (Photo by Jeremy Potter, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration)