Mission Journal 7 — Deron Burkepile: Mission Day 3: Wednesday, November 10th, 2004
Well, some days are weather days even at the bottom of the sea, and Mother Nature can put a crimp in your style even when you think she can’t get to you. The weather topside was bad enough today that we couldn’t dive. Since the boats back at the base would have trouble making it out to us in case of an emergency, the powers that be suspended diving for the day just to be on the safe side - which was ok with all of us. The last thing that any of us want is to be in a dangerous situation. So we were content, if a little restless, to sit inside the habitat today and watch the fishes through the viewports, eat, read books, eat, sleep, eat, and, did I mention, eat. When you have a ton of food just sitting there staring you in the face beckoning to be eaten it’s hard not to comply. After all, fish watching is exhausting work.
But all time in the water was not lost today. I went out for an hour dive on the hookah rig today. The hookah is basically a regulator attached to the air banks of Aquarius by a 75-100 foot long hose. So you can explore as far from the habitat as the hose lets you. I spent my hour searching the sand around the habitat for shells, parrotfish jaws, and old coral skeletons. I watched a rainbow parrotfish languidly swim off in a sand plain and a black grouper chase around a school of Creole wrasse. As I played around in the sand, inquisitive hogfish and trunkfish would weave in and out between my arms hoping I would unearth some scrumptious bite that they wouldn’t have to work too hard for. The current brought a big moon jellyfish by, and a scrawled file fish made a snack of its tentacles before the current swept the jelly away and the file fish contentedly returned to hunting down hydroids on the habitat. Even though we lost some work time today, it’s probably one of the best places I’ve ever been stuck in with nothing much to do. But here’s hoping for calm seas and work diving tomorrow.