Alvin 2000: Dispatch 4

Friday, April 14 - Our first dive!

Hello again from the high seas. Actually, the sea has been very kind. We're in the tropics, so it is hot and humid but very calm.

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me because it was the first dive of this series, and I got to go on it! I dove with Dr. Rich Lutz, chief scientist for this cruise, and pilot Steve Faluotico. We got on station a little late, so we didn't go into the water until around 9:30 a.m. We had several dive objectives, but typical of a first dive, a few things didn't go as smoothly as planned. Unfortunately, we had some problems with a pump on the way down that made our descent really slow. Finally, we touched down at about 2350 meters.

Because of our late start, we decided to continue with the other dive objectives. We landed on the bottom just after lunch time. Carl, the chief steward, had packed us a lunch of peanut butter and jelly, apples and candy bars. As we drove to our first target, we were on the lookout for any deep sea sessile creatures that one of the scientist wanted for a project. He is looking at anenomes, sponges and other sea life to determine if they contain any useful anti-cancer compounds. Out my view port I saw a huge, white anenome. It was the size of a typical dinner plate, at least 10 inches across! Steve, our pilot, scooped it up and put it in box on the front of the submarine.

Our on bottom target was the TUBE WORM PILLAR vent. This vent is a spectacular pillar of lava that has developed a black smoker on its top. The whole pillar (probably 25ft tall) is completely covered in white tube worms. We measured the temperature at the top of the vent and found it to be ~277 Celcius. This is cooler than the last time we were here. We sampled the water and then drove down to the bottom of the pillar to sample the diffuse fluids venting around the base. We picked up some temperature probes that had been left to monitor the fluids on a previous cruise. We found however, that most of the diffuse venting has stopped and the tube worms at the bottom weren't looking too healthy. We finally found a little patch of diffuse water shimmering out between the worms and mussels. We took some water samples and are continuing to analyze them today.

Our final job was to sample some tube worms. We didn't want to take them off the Tube Worm Pillar vent, so we drove around a bit until we found a nice patch of tube worms to sample. The type of tube worms we wanted are called Riftia. These are the "giant" tube worms of the deep that can grow to be six feet long. The tubes have white casings and red plumes that come out the top. They look like flowers or giant lipstick tubes. Raftia are amazing animals with no stomach; instead, they contain special bacteria that helps them utilize chemicals in the hydrothermal fluids for their energy. Steve was able to grab several of these Riftia and he put them in the biology box. The worms were so big that the box was nearly overflowing.

Unfortunately, the ship then called down to us and said it was time to come home. We dropped off the weights and the sub began to rise.

Alvin breaking the surface

Other dispatches:

First dispatches from April 9th and 10th
Project overview and launch information!

Dispatch from April 12th
While heading out to dive area 9 North, the crew spots a few interesting sea animals. Much of the time is spent unpacking and testing equipment.

Dispatch from April 13th
Atlantis reaches 13 degrees latitude. Alison and crew test and retest the titanium collection bottles.

Dispatch from April 14th
The first dive of the expedition-Alison joins the crew! Researchers collect anenomes and fluids surrounding hydrothermal vents.

Dispatch from April 15th
Three dives have been completed. The day is spent retrieving cameras, analyzing hydrogen sulfide samples, and training new Alvin pilots.

Dispatch from April 17th
Not all time aboard Atlantis is work! Although shifts are often long, breaks allow for games and relaxation.

Dispatch from April 23rd
Temperature probes are placed near the vents. A lottery to join the crew of Alvin!

Dispatch from April 24th
The last dives of the trip...See how water pressure affects ordinary objects at extreme depths!

Dispatch from April 25th
This incredible voyage aboard Atlantis comes to an end. It's on to Mexico, and finally, back to New Hampshire to analyze our samples.