Dolphins of the starboard bow

We were escorted this morning by a large group of dolphins who enjoyed playing in the waves created by the ship's wake. It seemed like they were happy to see us and were accepting of our presence.

Shortly after breakfast, we were given a briefing on how to make de-ionized water with the ships equipment. We use this water to clean instruments and for calibration purposes.

All of the electrodes used in the electrochemistry experiments have to be calibrated and tested before use.

Once calibrated, they are arranged on the basket of ALVIN. Each dive must be well planned out, as there is only so much room. The placement is so that the arms can easily reach everything.

This "coffin-style" collection container is for tube worms that will be brought back to the surface. When the tube worms are placed inside by the ALVIN's arm, the lid is closed and it acts like a refrigerator to keep the worms at 2 degrees Celsius. This ensures that the worms will arrive at the surface in roughly the same temperature as they were collected. By the way, the surface water temperature is around 85 degrees - nice for us but not for the worms!

The picture above also shows the shrimp collection device. It is the grey device on the left of the basket with the yellow rope. If you have ever used a minnow trap to catch bait, it works by the same principle. You put bait inside and the shrimp swim in but cant find their way back out. Also of interest is the milk crate to the right on the deck of the ship. It, along with the white pvc frame on the basket will be used to collect hard specimens like rocks and vent chimneys - like the one that I will hopefully be bringing back to school!

We also used the pool today to determine the "water weight" of the objects going down on ALVIN. Later on, we all will probably be taking a dip too!

The crew said we could build one for around $500. It is made of a pool liner, some plywood, and metal poles. This would be great for testing our ROV at Cape Henlopen HS.

During the day, the crew set out fishing lines to troll for tuna and mahi. Hopefully, we will have some for dinner tonight. Last night, we lost both lines off the back - must have been some big tuna!

Every night, after dinner, we go up to the top deck and watch the sunset. Maybe I will even get a picture of the "green flash."

Tonight, I will try my best to take a picture of the stars after dark. Since there is no ambient light, you can see the entire night sky. Words cannot describe how beautiful they are - it makes you realize how small we are in the universe. Seeing the night sky is one of my favorite things about being out at sea.

See you tomorrow!