Back on the water

Anthias' at Howland Island

We are back on the water after a brief and hectic stay in Pago Pago, American Samoa. It is good to be diving again and I've taken on a new role as a 'working' diver. For this portion of the cruise I will be filling in as a diver to install various instruments and structures, which requires hammering stainless steel pins into the substrate. This is a very different role than just recording what you see along a measuring line and so far I've come up from each dive having seen nothing more than the instrument I've been installing. It's been a bit odd - it seems that if a school of Orcas passed next to me, I probably wouldn't notice. I keep track of my buddies by noticing who is working across the instrument from me (I mostly only see their hands) and how many different directions I'm getting kicked from! There are four of us that work in close proximity and as long as the kicks are from different directions, I know they're still there. But not to worry, the water slows the force of a fin kick and it doesn't hurt. It also makes hammering pins a little interesting. You have the force of the water to push against and things seem to be in slow motion. There are two main type of structures we're installing and they will be recovered in two years. One set is the ARMS, autonomous reef monitoring structures, and the other are the CAUs, calcification acidification units. The ARMS allow cryptic critters to settle on the structure and be identified once the unit is recovered. We've been finding all sorts of small creatures that we haven't seen before. The CAUs are to monitor the effects of ocean acidification and how it is affecting calcifying organisms. The CAUs are the project that I've been organizing for the past few months.

That's about all for now. Once Ben returns to Hawaii, I'll be taking over his role as the Official Blog's organizer, so be sure to follow it for more of my posts. I hope you are well and not too snowed in.

Take care and good night,

Cristi