FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009
Report Day 05 -- Monday 05 October 2009 -- The Elevator Fiasco
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FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009 |
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Jason is still in the crater of Lo’ihi exploring and collecting samples. Jason cannot carry all of the rock, mud, and water samples as well as the bacterial and slide traps that were retrieved for the scientists back to the surface. So, late Sunday, the Jason crew sends down a large shelf with buoys on tops that they call the elevator.
It is filled with fresh traps and scoops as well as bioboxes to store the samples that are collected. Jason removes the empty scoops and traps from the elevator and replaces them with the full scoops, traps and samples he has collected. He also fills the bioboxes with rock samples. At 7:00 pm the Jason pilot on board the Kilo Moana pushes a button and releases the weights from underneath the elevator, allowing it to return to the surface and be retrieved by the Jason crew.
As the elevator breaks through the surface of the water the deck of the Kilo Moana is a flurry of movement and excitement. The elevator pops to the surface with bright yellow buoys bobbing up and down and strobe light blinking. The elevator quickly begins to float away. With no rope attached, the elevator is difficult to catch. The boat continues to follow the elevator and its precious cargo for over an hour, edging closer and closer. Finally, the captain of the Kilo Moana takes over the pursuit. He directs the bridge to move the boat in a swift southwesterly direction. A Jason crew member reaches out and catches the elevator with his pole and hook. Next, he attaches the crane clasp to the top of the elevator. The crane operator hauls the elevator on board.
Once on deck the scientists wait impatiently while the elevator is secured. The scientists collect their rocks, scoops, traps, and boxes and retreat to their labs. The labs fly into a flurry of activity. The slurp samples of bacterial mat are taken to the cold room, slide traps and bacterial traps to the microbiology lab and bioboxes containing rocks are taken into the main lab to be processed under a nitrogen atmosphere.
All the while, Jason and Medea continue to work deep below the ocean surface.
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