Dear Ron

Aquarius, with its open ambient wet porch, has a constant air bleed throughout a mission, good old 21% like we breathe on the surface.  The partial pressure of oxygen however is .45ATA and not .21 ATA because of the 47′ depth inside Aquarius.  Nitrox or enriched air could be used for a habitat mix and diver breathing gas, this has been done in previous habitats in the 70′s with depth ranges of >50′.  Mixes were selected to provide partial pressures of oxygen similar to atmospheric air at .21 ATA for that depth-called “normoxic” mixes.  

Aquanauts are breathing air in their tanks, we have two high pressure compressors on the Life Support Buoy overhead, with 86,000 cu ft of storage air in flasks on the seabed.

Decompression, which was completed at 0830 yesterday morning, takes 17 hours, we close the swinging door to the wet porch, then slowly exhaust the atmosphere through an umbilical to the surface.  Once we reach 0 FSW or “surface” inside Aquarius, we pressurize back to hatch depth of 45 FSW, open the door to the wet porch, and are greeted by two escort divers for a two minute ascent to the real surface on a short repetitive dive.

Craig Cooper

Aquarius Reef Base, Operations Director

This past Thursday marked the culmination of months of planning and preparation. It was finally time for Purple Songs to Swim! The days beforehand were busy with final checks and preparations to ensure that the space was ready for all of our activities and the two giant television screens set up to host the live videoconference with Aquarius. We were so excited! Thanks Dominic, Jim and Jesus for setting up all of the technical configurations to get us to live.

Finally the day arrived and, after a morning of dancing, singing and crafts in honor of our “under the sea” theme, it was time for the kids to go live with Aquarius. The link up went incredibly smoothly and we found ourselves face to face with Otto at the galley table. The smiles on the kids faces and their excitement was uncontrollable! Otto joked that he would have to turn down the volume on his receiving end because we were making such a commotion with all of our clapping and excitement, as the kids waved to the “undersea explorers.” It was such a special experience for them to get a glimpse of life under the sea and the work being done by NOAA scientists. It was especially fun for them to get a special tour of the habitat from Otto and see how aquanauts live and work underwater. Having the live conference setup was really neat. The kids had great questions for the aquanauts and continued to talk with me long after the live linkup as they had more questions about the ARB, and it was fun for me to see their excitement.

Probably the most special part of the day, however, was when the kids got to hear their music played underwater. Zach, whose song “That’s why I don’t eat fish” inspired me to arrange this day in the first place, was present to talk with the Aquanauts and share his passion for marine science and desire to be a proponent of the oceans in his work. A huge smile erupted on his face as he heard his music being played 60 feet underwater in Aquarius, along with several other songs. I can’t think of a better way to honor these kids and their expression than by sharing these beautiful songs, which the aquanauts have really enjoyed listening to during the mission.

This is just another example of how the work in education and conservation being done at the ARB connects on so many levels to the greater community and I was just tickled to be able to share my work and experiences at NURC with these kids. It was a very enjoyable time for everyone and such a special time for the kids to have this rare glimpse into the undersea world and the work of these scientists. We may even have inspired some future scientists! More importantly, however, we were able to create a special experience for these kids to honor them and create a reprieve for them to just be like any other kid – - playing and exploring.

To say the mission was a success would be a huge understatement!

Cassia Rye

Today, early in the morning while sampling with the PAM (pulse amplified modulator, measures fluorescence), we had an encounter with a barnacle covered, hawksbill turtle that decided it would be fun (??!) to do a couple of loop-de-loos around Abel.  He must’ve circled my dive buddy at least three times before he decided that was enough and continued on with his early-bird reef hunt.  Also, as if on cue, again, we had an early first-sunlight visit from a pack of spotted eagle rays, and they continued to check-in with us throughout this dive and the rest of the day.  One ray we came up on was in the midst of doing roller-coaster like sine waves, slowly rising up and kamakazi diving down, until we noticed his antics, and then he gracefully turned toward me and “flew” right over my head and off into the blue yonder. 

Well now we are only 18 corals away from completing our task of transplanting, so we anticipate finishing our work tomorrow in our early morning dive. There’s more work with mapping, and sampling the corals, but tomorrow is the day to wrap up the mission. Only one early, brief morning dive on Monday, before we start our decompression in preparation for surfacing early AM on Tuesday, June 17th. As my boss warned me, it is about to be over, even though we’ve finally just gotten into our groove.  I can’t imagine how I’ll get to sleep at night without all these gentle fish at my “window” to lure me to rest.

The wet porch goliath grouper ‘groupies’ continue to entertain us by hanging around with us while we gear up for each of our dives. The two mammoth “guardians” seemed to have taken a liking to us, and always seem to want to get closer and keep us company, continuing their watch over us. I called them our spirit guides today, as one kept nudging up to Abel as we waited our turn to dive. Ken got a video and photos of this bonding experience.  I will definitely miss these guys most of all, when we go, and somehow I suspect the feeling may be mutual!

The team in the habitat is getting rowdy tonight, lots of cheer and more stories of life experiences. It’s time to let someone else get online, so I’ll be signing off for one more night. Many sweet dreams and think …. fish!

Lauri Mac,  a pisces tried and true!

Great question! The Aquanauts work long and hard in their wetsuits and they do get a bit “funky”. Our wetsuit cleaning procedure has them removing the wetsuit and doing an initial rinse in salt water. They are then rinsed in a bucket filled with fresh water. After that, the wetsuits are dipped in a bucket of fresh water that has an enzyme solution called Mirazyme added to it. The Mirazyme is the key. It kills the stink making bacteria. What a relief!
The wetsuits are hung on hangars to drip dry. They never get totally dry because the wet porch, where they are stored, is at 100% humidity. Another interesting fact is that the wetsuits compress with depth, so they stay compressed throughout the mission. This definitely shortens the life of the wetsuits.

Mark W. Hulsbeck
Oceanographic Field Operations Manager, aquanaut

Today I had a series of preparations for corals yet to come to us from the Upper Keys seawall repair project sites, so while I was scrubbing and pruning the seabed for the next round of transplants, a small troup of reef characters decided to become my “pack” for the day. The symphony of colors included a yellowhead wrasse, a bluehead wrasse and a spanish hogfish who quickly became my buddies following me everywhere I went to scrub. They eagerly, and often agressively, kept vigil while I scrubbed, awaiting a snack of a worm or shelfish that might come available during my work, some may even have been snacking on the algal turf I uprooted. While I was working and tapping the bottom, my troup and I soon attracted more of a cast which included a beautiful hogish, dark brown coney with irridescent blue spots and eventually a french angelfish. Everyone of them wanted a “piece” of the action, literally. This cast of characters followed me everywhere I went for the final hours of my dive and I was sad to have to leave them behind, I was getting used to these guys taking up residence under my chin and awaiting the next bare patch of reef to graze over.

We received a visit today by a camerman from NBC 6 Miami who interviewed us inside the habitat and captured us at work on the reef, and we provided a successful live interview via webcam and phone just before noon. Look for a follow up segment on NBC 6 this Monday.

The days events also included a sighting of 15 spotted eagle rays swimming by in formation, and we hope that Abel captured something of this grand event.  A turtle visited our transplant site and we planted several more corals into the transect sites.  This evening we are inside the habitat, grazing on our own snacks, and watching a small turtle peeping in our view port, while the two smaller goliath groupers continue to delight us by cruising proudly, in tight formation by each view port while transiting around the habitat, (be sure to check the gazebo webcam, because they also made a guest appearance there earlier tonight for Ken’s mom while he was talking to her).

The seas have picked up throughout the day today, and we’re feeling the pressure waves or surges on our ear drums while inside the habitat tonight, but the water is still blue and crystal clear and feeling a bit cooler now.  The crew is pleasantly sharing sea stories and dive legends, I believe I could be lulled to sleep listening to these shanties, so I suppose it’s time to rest again and get ready for another exciting and eventful day tomorrow.  Rest well until the morn. 

lauri mac, aquanaut

More later. 

Otto Rutten

Aquarius Reef Base, Associate Director, habitat technician and aquanaut

As a child growing up in land-locked Colorado, I have fond memories of family trips to San Diego and my first explorations of the undersea world, snorkeling and boogie boarding. Since then I have harbored a deep respect for the majesty and grandeur of the ocean world. I share NURC’s commitment to conservation of this fragile ecosystem and promotion of education about the largest portion of our planet that we are only beginning to understand.

As a biochemist and future physician scientist, I understand the great potential of knowledge gained from exploration of this “innerspace.” Not only can valuable advancements be gained from basic science research in the oceans, but there also exists a tremendous potential of applications for clinical benefit, such as bone grafts created from (laboratory reared) hard corals.

This last year as a NOAA Hollings scholar I served the ARB as a scientific liason, serving PI’s working on projects in the National Marine Sanctuary out of NURC with their dive operations, field data and sample collection, and lab analysis. The experience of working with such a professional group of scientists who share my passion for exploration and scientific inquiry was exciting. I was truly honored to have the opportunity to work at NURC and be part of a team who share my goals of exploration along with conservation and education of this fragile ocean ecosystem. I couldn’t imagine a more committed and hardworking staff. All I can say is it was truly a pleasure and I will remain a lifelong supporter of the ARB and the wonderful work being done not only with the science missions, but navy and NASA operations as well.

I am currently at the Texas Medical Center undergoing training to enter a dual MD/PhD physician scientist program next year to combine my passion for basic science research with clinical applications. In conducting genetics research into the basis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but I desired to serve our cancer patients at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) on a deeper level.
TCH has a wonderful program, the Institute for Arts and Medicine, which was founded on the belief that artistic expression enhances the healing environment and treatment experience. As both a dancer and scientist I strongly agree. Our hospital has a state of the art recording studio for the use of its pediatric oncology patients who are encouraged to write lyrics and compose their own songs in a project called Purple Songs. NASA Astronaut Scott Parazynski was so inspired by these kids that he took their songs with him to the International Space Station as a tribute. Since then CDs containing Purple Songs music have traveled to many locations including Mt. Everest. This is all designed to focus on the kids artistic expression and to honor them by creating a “whole person” experience.

A young patient’s song about ocean exploration brought back memories of my experiences diving and working out of the Aquarius underwater habitat. I was inspired by this patient’s beautiful expression, and the NURC crew have graciously helped me to arrange a live videoconference for the kids to talk to our aquanauts in Aquarius and to hear their music played at the bottom of the ocean. This is certainly a first for Purple Songs!

In addition, one of my fondest memories of my time underwater is the magical glow of bioluminescent organisms lighting up upon any movement disruption in the water column at night. The bluish green glow reminds me of fireflies, and I wanted to share this neat adaptation of these organisms to produce their own light with the kids. So I have arranged for samples of bioluminescent algae to be sent to our Children’s Cancer Center from California so the kids can participate in a hands-on science demonstration of this bioluminescence.

I am excited to link up with the aquanauts tomorrow and to share these beautiful songs from the kids that inspired me. How far these experiences have taken me from growing up in Colorado to working under the ocean out of Aquarius…I am thrilled to share my experiences with Aquarius and contribute to the Purple Songs project.

Thanks to everyone at NURC for your great support in this endeavor.
From mission control in Houston- we are go for Purple Songs to Swim!

We decided to spend our mid-day and lunch break counting and documenting the number of fish that occur around and about the habitat, guessing about 25-40 species. Already we’re up to 58 species -  the newest spotting is two graysbies, but most impressive are the two goliath grouper that constantly keep peering in and around our view ports, on all sides of the habitat. Look for these two characters later tonight on the gazebo feed, my brother says that you can always tell when the grouper is coming by because all the other fish disappear and then the big guy passes, and again soon the fish frenzy returns after he’s gone by.

This evening, upon return to the habitat (5:30 pm) we were alerted that the bivalves were spawning, and when it comes to spawning…I can’t miss a thing! We followed up and found the oysters spawning – some were the typical males “smoking” and the others were releasing streams of white and orange (very skinny silly string-like), which we assume are eggs, but it was too fine to distinguish. It’s possible that a single oyster was releasing all three, as it seemed that individuals were spawning in one spot, then you turn around and find another releasing at another location.  One of the two goliath groupers accompanied us into the wet porch while we were breaking down our rigs and getting out of the water, which Abel tried to photo.

Tonight we’re chatting and discussing the day and planning our dives for tomorrow.  Conditions are great, the water is very clear and calm and current was minimal all day, picking up a bit tonight. Can’t wait to dive tomorrow, I’m ready to go back in now of course, but I guess I’ll have to settle for some sleep first. 

Signing off until tomorrow, Aquanaut MacLaughlin saying goodnight to all.

Note that Aquarius sits within a research only zone within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, so it is illegal to fish around Aquarius and this is enforced by the marine patrol!

Have you explored bio-accretion techniques as a means for structural repair of damaged coral heads? By what means are you currently securing coral transplants to the receptor coral sites?

Hi Ron- our group has not tried the accretion (or BioRock). That method enhances deposition of limestone to create structure which may ultimately allow new corals to settle and grow but does not directly restore coral. Our mission is focused on determining the best source of corals to transplant to restore natural populations. Although corals may be dying on the reef, captive raised corals are increasingly available (as the techniques to propagate them have improved) meaning we have the potential to restore limited areas of damage on reefs from ‘farmed’ corals. However at the moment we do not know how these captive corals do in the natural environment. Our current mission aims to determine what coral sources result in more resilient and healthy coral populations for a reef.

We are using underwater epoxy to attach the corals to the bottom. It is a 2 part epoxy that is mixed by hand by the aquanauts resulting in a lot of tired hands down here! We have tried other mehods of attaching them in the past and found that the epoxy is the better method for smaller pieces of coral. Surprisingly it does not harm the coral when used carefully. After it hardens, algae will start to grow and it will look just like the natural reef substrate, and eventually the coral will grow right over the epoxy.

I hope this answers your questions and thanks for tuning in!

Dana Williams, Aquanaut

Dear Richard

Different species of coral grow at different rates.  Indeed, the two species of coral we are using in this experiment are very different.  The staghorn coral grows relative fast (for coral); up to 10 cm branch length per year.  The mounding coral species we are using grows MUCH more slowly; more like one cm extension per year.  We are trying to account for this difference by spacing the staghorn coral further apart than the mounding coral, sort of like you would in a garden. 

Dr. Margaret Miller

Mission Principal Investigator

Ecologist, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA