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OPERATION DEEP SCOPE Exploring Gulf of Mexico Deep-Sea Habitats MISSION DISPATCH 6 • August 13, 2004 Dispatch by Mark Schrope - @Sea Photo-Journalist 
Well, the calm seas thing is over. By this afternoon the winds were howling and the seas were kicking a bit. I'm told the change is
actually not due to Bonnie or Charley, but instead to a low-pressure system sitting over us. Whatever the case, it's been a little bumpy
tonight, but we're heading back to our scheduled dive locations because at this point it's about the same all over the Gulf. If Charley decides
to swing our way, we'll have to run for port.
Today's bout of excitement was an honest to goodness assault on the submersible by a misguided but apparently plucky swordfish. This is actually not such a rare occurrence because swordfish seem to have it in for submersibles. Harbor Branch subs have been attacked at least ten times, and I've heard of a similar assault on the Alvin submersible. During their combined 8000+ dives the Johnson-Sea-Link I (JSLI) submersibles have come up against all manner of ocean creatures. Sharks, other game fish, squid--- they all take things calmly, either swimming on by or perhaps giving a little nudge. But not the swordfish. These things come in like they're convinced their little knife noses will be sufficient to take out a 23-foot, 14-ton submersible. They always lose, though one did once cut a hole in a hydraulic line. The real explanation for the behavior probably has something to do with the lights attracting then confusing the fish, but it's difficult to say 
This time around we got
great footage of the swordfish approaching out of the darkness. He shook his head as he came near, turned away, went off
the screen and shook the camera with a head butt. He got his sword stuck momentarily then went at the sphere itself. Next he, um, how do I put this
nicely. He did right on the sphere what they say people do when they get really scared.
Justin Marshall, who was in the sphere, said it was a scary
situation with the sword coming straight at him, but that he did not meet the large fish's reaction in kind. He did, however, have to spend the rest of
his dive staring through a sphere smeared with fish feces, which almost never happens.
On the science side, today was a score for the ingenuity of those aboard. It has been difficult during Eye-in-the-Sea deployments to get the jellyfish lure and the bait bag lined up so that they are within view of the camera. Erika Heine and Dr. Edie Widder decided we needed a rack to hold both items that would fold down and place them in the proper position. 
Justin Marshall joined in and worked with Erika most of last night to devise an effective if not altogether attractive rig using an old ladder the captain
was kind enough to donate to the cause. They even came up with a locking mechanism that could be easily released using the sub's robotic arm. It worked
perfectly, which is a good thing, because if the pilot had not been able to get the rack to click into its upright position, they wouldn't have been able to get the Eye.
Whenever there is a spare moment, Edie and Erika are still reviewing the loads of video clips the Eye has gathered in its three successful deployments so far. No more big squid, but lots of interesting fish and other animals to watch. Specialists have already contacted us to report that the squid filmed by the Eye on Tuesday may not have been the species Edie initially suspected but something more rare. Stay tuned for details, though we may not know anything for sure until we return and can send the full-resolution files out for review. 
It looks like tomorrow is going to be spent riding out eight-foot seas aboard the Seward Johnson II rather than diving, but if all goes as predicted, it should be calm again within a day or so and we can get back to work. 
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