FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009
Report Day 06 -- Tuesday 06 October 2009 -- Spending the Night on the Bottom of the Ocean
|
FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009 |
|
| Daily Reports 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
As Jason continues to work, 3,000 feet below the ocean surface, a shark appears in the camera’s view. A shark! 3,000 feet down! I didn’t know sharks lived that deep in the ocean.
After being down on the ocean floor for nearly 36 hours Jason finally emerges at 8:00 Tuesday morning. He will return to the ocean depths at 4:00 pm today. It sounds like a time for relaxation – but no rest for the weary - as I enter the scientists’ labs they are still busy processing and analyzing samples from the elevator and from Jason.
As soon as Jason is on board, the Kilo Moana’s engines are fired up and she begins to move. We are going to leave Lo’ihi’s crater for now, and visit the ocean floor on which Lo’ihi sits. This area is called FeMO deep because it is the deepest location that the FeMO scientists will explore. It reaches a depth of 15,000 feet. The Kilo Moana finally hovers over FeMO deep around 3:00 pm. At 4:00 sharp Jason and Medea are once again submerged. Two hours pass as Jason and Medea descend to FeMo deep. The dive plan says we will visit Ula Nui and the moon mats. We will deploy long term exposure experiments and collect previously deployed exposure experiments, scoop, slurp, water, and rock samples. Midnight comes too soon. I am on the midnight to 4:00 am watch in the Jason monitor room. I am in charge of the video recording of everything that Jason does.
When I enter the room Jason is walking around on the ocean floor. The monitors show a dark, murky blue landscape, in spite of the bright flood lights emanating from Jason. We are on our way to the Ula Nui moon mats, 14,400 feet below the ocean surface. The mats are thick and squishy, full bacteria and oxidized iron. The Jason pilot manipulates Jason’s arms to pick up traps and scoop up samples. He uses a sucking device to slurp up bacteria and mat material. As Jason grabs at the rock-like shelves, they disintegrate in his metal fingers. He must pick up three rock samples. After many tries, Jason finds solid rock, grabs it in his clamps and lifts it into the biobox. The monitor room is cold and the night is long. Four hours pass slowly.
| FeMO4 Cruise Home Page |