February 19, 2004
Last Dive and Headed Home
Vicki Ferrini with Captain George Silva before Vicki's first dive in Alvin today.
Today's dive, 3976, was our last one here at the East Pacific Rise on this cruise. We were concerned last night that the weather would deteriorate and that we would not be able to dive. When we woke up, the sky was clear and the wind had not increased- the weather was good, albeit with a moderate swell of a few meters. Alvin dove right on schedule, with Pat Hickey as pilot, Bill Seyfried and Vicki Ferrini- on her first dive.
Adam Soule taking a cat nap during the last Rabbit Cam tow last night while Javier and Rhian stand watch. Adam's been trying to absorb the details of the sonar data by osmosis lately... we'll see if it works!
Last night's camera tow was the last one of the cruise - #18. The Rabbit Cam has provided excellent data- photographs, near bottom bathymetry and magnetic data - that will help us to map and interpret the volcanic and tectonic processes in this region of the EPR. The 'Flamingos' and the other scientists who have helped with the TowCam work have done a terrific job. They're looking forward to getting back on a normal, day schedule after 3 weeks of being 'night owls'.
The Flamingos (left) caught in a rare photograph in their natural state. Right photo shows how the Rabbit Cam crew has survived the long hours... clearly Adam wishes he were flying the camera.
On board Atlantis, the rest of the science party was gearing up for the 4 day transit back to port in Costa Rica. There is lots of activity as people gather up their data and equipment, continue to discuss the results of the dives and camera tows, and chemical analyses of the fluids sampled by the chemists. The labs are starting to fill up with boxes in preparation for packing.
It's
sooooo hard to decide which bucket to throw first....!
Maurice Tivey does the honors as Vicki takes her 'baptism' after her first Alvin dive today.
Tony Tarantino washes down Alvin after the dive today. The next cruise will start in about 9 days, so that Alvin Group will begin to prepare the sub. for it's next science program. Pilot whales circled Alvin and Atlantis this afternoon during the recovery.
Look for more maps and data in the next few days a we compile our Cruise Report and summarize our results.