Mission Journal 4 — Ross Hein: Mission Day 3: Friday, July 15th, 2005
Things are going very well down here. We are collecting real time data and have gotten the bugs worked out of the science sampling gear out on the reef. We haven’t seen the surface in several days, but we can tell it’s a little bouncy up there by the feel of pressure changes on our ears. When the larger swells go over the top of us we feel something similar to what one feels when you fly in an airplane. The visibility outside is clearing up a little more each day as the water settles out from the previous stormy weather.
I spent around four hours out on hookah today cleaning and working on the outside of the Habitat. It’s a constant battle when you put something on the sea floor and the ocean begins to claim it for its own. Valves and piping must be cleaned regularly and working from saturation allows us to get long dives in and give the habitat the attention she needs and deserves. Today while working, I dropped a tool and when I looked down, I saw fish of all sizes a dart around it. As I dropped down to retrieve it I saw what all the excitement was about……a large ball of bait fish or “silver sides” was swarming underneath the habitat. Every one was trying to get in on the action, several large Nurse Sharks and a big Atlantic Stingray were in the thick of it all, with about a dozen Black Grouper racing through the fray gulping up mouthfuls of fish. All of the action had the smaller Snapper and Yellowtail all worked up as well zipping about in every direction. When I first saw the bait ball it was about 12 to 15 feet across, but after about 2 hours it was reduced to a small scattering of little fish, the Nurse Sharks lounging on bottom, fat and happy after their very large meal.
The ocean is full of amazing sights, it’s never a dull moment down here.