Our mission has ended after nine wonderful days underwater, and some exciting science! Today I am back at the operations center in Key Largo cleaning gear, shipping samples home, and saying goodbye to our friends at Aquarius Reef Base. We pulled down the last experiment yesterday at 8 AM, passed off the samples to our topside divers, and locked up Aquarius for decompression. After living and breathing at about 3 atmospheres absolute, deco lasts 14+ hours (about half of that while you sleep) so we woke up this morning and shuffled into our gear for a two-minute ascent to a lovely south Florida morning. And I don’t remember the sun being so bright!!!
Some random thoughts as I look back on the experience of a lifetime:
1) Science doesn’t happen in a vacuum; there is no way we could have accomplished everything we did without the phenomenal support of numerous people. Within Aquarius we had two fantastic habitat technicians, and on the final day an additional tender to bring us all through deco. In addition, the dozen operations personnel of Aquarius Reef Base provided constant topside chamber support during our dive excursions and base support for mission logistics. Their commitment started back in November 2010 when they first started prepping me for this mission, and continued through training right up until today as we break down our gear. In particular, there was significant overtime at the “11th hour” when our cargo finally arrived, a week late, to get us in the water without an impact to our science. We also owe our thanks to the extended Aquarius family throughout Key Largo who often sent treats down to the habitat so we never felt like we were missing a good meal! The Navy also provided first class medical oversight on a daily basis that kept us healthy and capable of diving 6 hours per day. Finally, I have to acknowledge our topside science team, from three different universities [U Mississippi, U Alabama & U Alabama-Birmingham] who spent their afternoons and evenings processing all the samples we collected during the mission, and often pulling together additional gear and such for the next days’ experiments.
2) Living underwater may be the greatest experience of my life, but the science that is generated in this unique laboratory is unprecedented. Watching some of our sample species for long periods of time provided new perspectives and information that I would never have guessed based on single dive “snap-shots” of their life histories. I have a renewed appreciation for the complexity of a coral reef ecosystem, and the species that live there.
3) I could totally study Goliath Groupers [a big concession from an avowed invertebrate biologist…]!!! I hate to superimpose my own pre-conceived behavior on a wild animal, but when we left today they were waiting on the back porch to say goodbye.
4) Coral reefs are facing increasing numbers of stressors (including ocean acidification), with increasing frequency, and they need our support to mitigate these problems so future generations can experience these ecosystems that we often take for granted. Marine scientists conduct important research focused on coral reef health at facilities including Aquarius, but the work needs the commitment and support of all people who use coral reefs for recreational and commercial aspects.
5) and the sun seems brighter than I remembered…
-Marc Slattery
It is hard to believe, but today was our last full day of diving for the mission- I feel like we just descended down here! It was still a big day for sampling though, with the usually experimental setup and sample hand-off to our surface support crew in the morning- they have really been great, getting us everything we need and taking care of sample processing back in the surface lab! While it is clear that collaborating with colleagues and friends is always a good thing back home on dry land, it is all but impossible to do pretty much anything underwater without lots of help. The whole mission is based on this group effort in everything from collecting samples and sample hand-off, to the amazing Aquarius team that keeps this place running around the clock (not to mention still finding time to send us delicious treats!!). It has paid off well and we have so far had a very successful mission.
We still have some more research to fit in however, and tomorrow morning will be the exciting culmination of all of our experiments before we head back in the habitat for deco. This afternoon was a bit different in that our sampling included some incubation time, which we took to be catch-up-on-checking-out-the-reef-for-fun-time (after all, this is why we became marine scientists in the first place)! We were lucky enough to see some spiny lobsters hiding out, a very large sea turtle that was clearly checking us out, a sting ray that swam by, a large and intimidating moray eel, and a baby scorpion fish. After words we headed in for the day to enjoy some hot chocolate and data analysis (also known as ‘instant gratification’- I love living so close to my field work), so I am off to enjoy some more hot chocolate!
Cara Fiore
It seems like just yesterday that we started this mission, but tomorrow is our last day of diving before we start decompression. Today we again had visitors from the surface in the form of our surface science crew and a huge herd of recreational divers. The herd descended upon Aquarius and swarmed it for a little while before they attempted a group picture (many people were kicked in the making of that picture) and then made their way back to the surface. The divers were informed by Otter over the underwater speaker not to feed the scientists because we operate on a strict diet of Snickers and York peppermint patties. It is no longer odd to not be able to follow the divers back to the surface. For now, the wet porch is our surface and that’s just fine with me.
We concluded one sponge acidification experiment and set up a second one with different species in the morning. The afternoon involved work out towards the pinnacle on some plots we have been monitoring. The current was quite strong today, so the treks back and forth to drop off samples at the habitat were very tiring. We had a pair of stingrays swim with us part of the way out to the pinnacle sites. Normally the rays avoid divers, but these two seemed perfectly content to swim with us for a while. After all those swims back and forth, I will be calling it an early night tonight, which means instead of normal bedtime at 9pm I will likely crash closer to 8:30pm. If you come to Aquarius for the night life, you might be disappointed at how soon it ends. Our normal night life normally involves watching the goliath groupers swim around outside the viewport, and watching for the occasional rarity such as an eel of a turtle to pop its head up into the viewport.
After 7 days in the habitat, it really is the little things that start to matter. I look forward to taking a warm shower (even a navy one), some dry clothes and the goodies that get sent down to us. Thanks to Justin’s girlfriend (he did not give us your name, sorry) for the latest delightful treats. They didn’t last long in this crowd, but we enjoyed every bit of them. Well its approaching the time for Aquarius night life to start… time to take my seat at the view port!
by Cole Easson
It rarely gets talked about during interview about Aquarius, but the guys who work topside during a saturation mission make it all happen. Without their long hours and constant maintenance, life in the habitat would be rough.
We have our top guys, Watch Directors. They are working or on-call for the full duration of the mission. Catching some much needed sleep in the bathroom, converted bedroom next to our watch desk. We have three on our crew right now and one is in the habitat with me, that leaves 240 totals hours for them to divide. Watch Director stay on shore and runs the full operation and any information from the boats on site or us down in Aquarius go to him.
The rest of the crew plays a more linear role; dive supervisor, chamber supervisor, watch stander, boat captain, standby diver, diver, intern.
Before we can send aquanauts out to complete science, we need our chamber vessel to be on site. For a 0800 depature from Aquarius we have crew coming in before 0600 to prep the boat, chamber, gear and transit. That doesn’t take into account the man who has been sitting at the watch desk. That first boat gets on-site with standby divers checked out,at the ready before our aquanauts are cleared to leave. That same boat and crew remains out until diving operations are completed for the day! We are talking an average of 10 hours on a boat, minimal diving (saving dive time for a possible rescue), in the Keys heat. I don’t envy them but know I will be on that boat next mission as a DMT.
Other memebers of the crew are at watch desk as I made mention of earlier. Our watch desks are manned 24/7 with direct chat, phone lines and video feed to and from the habitat. They watch our atmospheric makeup, excursion time and make sure everything get logged appropriatly.
Our dive supervisors check out divers and maintain dive station while the standby divers standby so “others may dive.” Divers come to the habitat daily to bring fresh items such as science samples or maybe just a friendly face, which is usually followed by a request for a snack.
This is all completed with a split crew (morning and late shift) 7 days a week from the morning of saturation till after our post mission debrief. Everyone puts in at least 10 hours on a regular shift and most pull extra hours at night dividing the graveyard hours of watch desk.
For those of you interested in learning the beginings of seafloor habitats I suggest to read Bob Barths book on the SEALAB programs.
From the Publisher
From the late 1950′s through the 1960′s the U.S. Navy SEALAB program was guided by Captain George Bond. This program ultimately had a huge impact on the global economy. The SEALAB program provided the commercial diving industry with its most important tool in the exploitation of offshore oil and gas reservoirs: the ability to dive deep and stay there for extended periods of time. In the process, the Navy medical community extracted a wealth of physiological data from their human subjects. While this diving program got less media exposure than NASA’s space program and even Cousteau’s rival Conshelf program, SEALAB’s impact has been very profound by proving the viability of saturation diving.Sea Dwellers: The Humor, Drama and Tragedy of the U.S. Navy SEALAB Programs is a journal of this exciting Navy adventure. Author and Navy diver Bob Barth was the only man to experience all of the SEALAB programs and its predecessor, the Genesis program, from the other end of the hose. These programs provided the scientific basis for the practice of saturation diving as it is known and performed today. Barth and his peers were literally human guinea pigs. He gave blood, sweat, tears, the prime years of his life, and even his heart and soul to these programs in order to experience what most men can only dream of… life on the bottom of the ocean.
Sea Dwellers will not become the definitive account of SEALAB in the annals of history. George F. Bond’s own chronicles, as edited by Helen Siiteri, provide a more comprehensive and balanced view of the political, technical, and logistical hurdles that had to be crossed in making Genesis and SEALAB happen. Yet Barth’s story must be told, and the fact that he is a colorful story teller in his own right is icing on the cake. That his recollections don’t always jibe with Bond’s in the finer details of what happened is only reflective of Barth’s different vantage point… from the bottom.
Barth recounts dozens of comical episodes in Sea Dweller, including: contending for the right of way with a destroyer in his 35 foot LCPL; attempting to drown one of the NASA astronauts; providing for the construction of the SEALAB habitat with a little midnight requisitioning; explaining to the Shore Patrol why a sailor needs to be out walking goats; having the whole Armed Forces Sea and Air Rescue Teams out looking for him as he is parked at an island enjoying drinks at a nearby club; and instigating many other shenanigans that aggravated his Captain and, if not for the greater good achieved by the project, might have put him in real hot water.
NASA Astronaut and Navy Diver Scott Carpenter was a member of the SEALAB team. Of the author, Carpenter has the following to say: Bob Barth is a man of few words and, in a few words, he is the undisputed dean of the saturated diver. He was in the business before anyone ever knew it was a business, including Bob himself. Name any event or feat in the world of saturation diving and Bob Barth has been there and done that. His long underwater career has left him with an endless list of respectful shipmates for whom the mere mention of the name Barth brings fond smiles. He doesn’t talk about it very much though, and unless you ask him to tell you a story, you’ll have no idea of his background or his accomplishments. It has taken a quarter of a century to get him to write this book because, he says, he can’t write. The book itself proves him wrong.
Sea Dwellers is a 184-page book which contains 115 photographs, many of which have never been seen before, covering all of the SEALAB and Genesis programs.