The Final Log: At Home Again
After four layovers in different airports and a few stomach-clenching moments of airline turbulence, we’ve made it home. Returning from a trip like this is bittersweet. I miss the warm weather and the warm ocean of the Bahamas, but I felt so happy when I saw the verdant green of home through the airplane window as we flew into North Bend. I’m finding it a little hard to get into the swing of things here. The three-hour time change is hard to adjust to—I find myself ravenously hungry at 2:30 pm, just when dinner would have been served on the boat.
I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go on this research trip. It was amazing to explore new places and to learn so many new things. I have come back even more excited about marine science than I was when I left. There are so many things still to discover! I must say that I’m so impressed with all of the great questions you students sent us while we were at sea. You have great scientific minds! You challenged us to look even more closely at the animals and processes of the deep sea. I know we’re all looking forward to returning to the classroom to share more of our experiences with all of you.
Take care!
Katie Bennett
Well, today was my second dive and I was lucky enough to sit in the “front seat” for this dive. “Front seat” means that I get to sit in the glass bubble at the front of the sub and operate the cameras. I felt like I could see everything! Our dive was to 2,700 feet, where we found a vertical wall about 70 feet tall that we followed along for a few hours. Since we’ll be going home soon, we only collected a few animals but took lots and lots of pictures of everything we saw. Most of the wall was covered with sponges, crinoids, urchins and sea stars. The most common colors we saw were white, red, and yellow, but we saw a few green sponges as well.
Oh Boy, let me tell you diving down to the cold, dark ocean floor was amazing! It was like Christmas day times ten! I was so anxious last night I could hardly sleep. I tossed and turned as images of strange and mysterious creatures danced in my head. Just between you and me, when the time for my dive finally arrived I squealed with excitement. Don’t tell anyone, I’d be embarrassed. We dove all the way down to 2100 feet! It is so dark in the briny deep we had to turn the sub lights on. WOW! When the light came on a nudibranch started doing the cha cha cha, a dark red shrimp with glowing orbs for eyes scurried about, and a two-foot spotted shark glided lazily along the muddy seafloor. My face was pressed so hard against the porthole I left a face print on the glass. I didn’t think it could get any better but I was wrong. As a full red moon was rising overhead, a party was about to begin below. Poof! Zing! Bursts of light whirled and twirled around the sub. Brilliant green bioluminescence shimmered everywhere in the dark. Animals use this light to communicate. As we ascended I realized I was a part of one of the greatest wonders on Earth. This was truly an amazing experience.
This morning, after we launched the morning sub, we went on a snorkeling trip to a coral reef. Some of our favorite sightings were elkhorn coral, cuttlefish, triggerfish, and a sea turtle. When we were back on the ship we saw the sub surface and get picked up by the ship. We put the animals from the sub in the cold room so they stay at the same cold temperature from where they were collected.
