Amber Diekmann asked: Hi This is for Mr. Houwen, How are the red cells affected by being under water?
Amber,
Typically, red blood cells remain largely unaffected by the pressure of diving. Recent research has been quoted though that speaks of Red Cell Rigidity, which describes red blood cells getting ‘harder’ which may cause the slowing of rbc’s passing through the capillaries, and that the increased pressure of Nitrogen can be responsible. The accuracy of this research is highly debated right now, and probably only an issue with very deep diving, far beyond the research depths here.
Steve Houwen
Alameda High School
Related Links
Mission Summary
Aquanaut Profiles
Mission Photos
Hi,
My name is Katrina and I’m from Ada Merritt K-8 Center in Miami,Florida. I was just wandering in case of an emegency what would you guys do and how would the entire crew get to the surface?
Dear Katrina
Hello and great question. In case we had to end a mission due to an emergency, all of the aquanauts would evacuate Aquarius with a mask and breath through a very small scuba bottle (which can be held in one hand). All power would be secured, and valves and doors in Aquarius would be closed, if possible. All of the aquanauts would stage into the emergency gazebo, which is a safe haven right next to the entrance of Aquarius. The gazebo resembles a thimble on four legs and is filled partially with air. Within minutes, an emergency response team would dive down and help bring us safely to the surface. However, because we have been underwater for a long time (considered saturated), all aquanauts would be rushed to our shore facility to begin decompression.
Dewey Smith
Aquarius Aquanaut and Habitat Technician
Related Links
Mission Summary
Aquanaut Profiles
Mission Photos
Skylar Crowley asks: what are the names of some of the fish being studied on the Reef?
Dear Skylar,
We are studying the behavior of hogfish, blue parrotfish, and black grouper. We chose these three because they have very different diets. Hogfish eat invertebrates that they dig up from the sand (benthivore), blue parrotfish munch on the algae on the reef (herbivore), and black gouper eat other fishes (piscivore).
Thanks for your question!
Ashley Knight
Aquarius Aquanaut
Krystal Kohlberg asks: I was wondering how you take note of any information that you need to write down while out in the water? What do you write on or use to write with???
Dear Krystal,
Hi Krystal,
We just use a good ol’ pencil and paper. Actually, we have special paper that is waterproof - it’s kind of like plastic. We can write all of our notes on this paper and can even erase when we make a mistake. We have to make sure and tie our pencil to the clipboard we use or it can get away from us pretty easily. We have been taking notes on data sheets that we printed on the waterproof paper. We note the fish’s swimming behavior, its feeding behavior, and the habitat it is in every 20 seconds for ten minutes. We also note other behaviors on the page, such as color morphologies, size, and interactions with other fishes.
Great question!
Thanks,
Ashley Knight
Aquarius Aquanaut
Tomlin Middle School asked: Dewey,
Thank you for the interior walk through of the Aquarius. The 7th grade science class have been watching daily, with pictures of the outside of the Aquarius projected onto the walls. When asked how big is the Aquarius I tell them about the size of a school bus. How far off am I on the size?
Happy Thanksgiving You and All of the Crew.
ann
Dear Ann
Thank you for the question and for watching. The Aquarius undersea research station is roughly, 43 feet long and 9 feet in diameter. A school bus is actually a common object which we refer to Aquarius in regards to dimensions… and even the color. You may not be able to see the exact color of Aquarius (depends on when the picture was taken) because of the marine growth accumulated over the years, but we often call the habitat, the underwater school bus because it is painted bright yellow!
Dewey Smith
Aquarius Aquanaut and Habitat Technician