Day Two
The day began at 04:15 today for Howard and I. The data collected by Team Aquarius with our underwater mass spectrometer during the September 2007 mission indicated some interesting diurnal variations, which showed oxygen uptake (respiration > photosynthesis) by sponges at night and oxygen production (photosynthesis > respiration) during the day. Respiration is greatest at about 05:00, so we suited up to collect some key samples while being cautiously watched by the nighttime denizens of Aquarius (nurse shark, goliath grouper, many way-cool snapper and the ever-present barracuda). When we returned we “cooked” freeze dried eggs for our breakfast burritos and added some hot sauce for a bit of a zing. Jim and Patrick followed us out at the crack of dawn and ended up staying out most of the day. Thanks to these guys, we now also have real-time physical data streaming into Aquarius that allows us to see variations in the rates of sponge pumping.
Patrick also today managed to “talk” over the internet with more than 70 elementary school children in western Dade County! He gave them a virtual tour of Aquarius on the inside while our Rolex Scholar (Brenna Mahoney – see the latest issue of SCUBA Diving magazine) gave a video tour of the outside. Jim has a hot date with a sponge at midnight tonight, but I’ll let him tell you all about it in his journal entry a bit later.
The most excellent Aquarius staff set-up the Navy Camera at one of our study sites so check out that new web cam link – look for Howard and I at 05:00 tomorrow.
Aloha, Brian
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