Timothy Henkel: Mission Day 5: Friday, May 25th, 2001
Well, it’s already Friday morning, Day 5. It’s amazing how time flies down here; the days quickly blend together. I guess when you spend all day in the water, by the time you come back, all you want to do is eat (a lot), plan the next day, and get some sleep. The next day, it’s back into the water.
And what a couple of days it’s been. Yesterday, we left the habitat about 8:30 am, and what do we see when we arrive, mass sponge spawning. Every other barrel sponge was like a chimney, streaming larvae into the water column. These sponges are literally like giant barrels, and some were filled with eggs. We’d fan out the sponge, so it was completely empty, and within minutes it was full again. Can you imagine how much energy these things are just throwing into the water, hoping that some will land on the reef? The few larvae that actually make it that far are then have to compete with algae and corals for extremely limited open space to grow and survive. Watching the angel fishes and wrasses circle around the spawning sponges, gobbling up whatever they can get to, I figure most of the sponge larvae never even make it to the reef. It was a sight I had never seen in all of my visits to the reef, definitely pretty amazing. Oh, and don’t worry, we took plenty of video.
Yesterday was also Will’s birthday, one of the few people to ever turn 21 under the sea. Our handy lab techs made a birthday cake while we were away. Little Debbie Swiss Cake rolls, covered in Butterfingers, oh and a glow stick as a candle. And our trusty surface support crew also brought down some sushi from the local grocery store for a birthday feast. A birthday to remember. Feel free to drop him a belated birthday hello.
Well, it’s back to work this morning. It’s out to the Pinnacle Site for sponge surveys. Our last full day of work. Time does fly down here.
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