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MISSION DISPATCH 1 • 07/05/01 Today's Weather - images courtesy of NOAA & RSMAS Dispatch by Heath Mills - Georgia Institute of Technology July 02, 2001 Today the science team departed from Gulfport, Mississippi on board the R/V SEWARD JOHNSON and steamed to GC185 (about 100 miles south of the Louisiana coast). The study site, also known as Bush Hill, is a methane hydrate and is the first oil seep ever seen during a JSL dive in 1986. The site was so named for the large 'bushes' of tubeworms found there. 
July 03, 2001Prior to the first dive tomorrow morning, Dr. Joe Montoya (far left) from the Georgia Institute of Technology works closely with Erik Cordes (middle) from Penn State University and Jen Fisher from the University of Georgia to prepare the scientific equipment on the sub platform. The main objectives of the dive include sampling gas hydrate using a specially designed hydrate drill, testing a new agar plug core for in situ incubation inside the gas hydrate, collecting pore water using a sampling wand, and obtaining several sediment cores. Photograph by Heath Mills 
July 04, 2001 During last minute preparations for the first dive, Dr. Ian MacDonald from Texas A&M University inspects the push core devices (at right). Push cores will be manipulated by the sub's mechanical arm to collect intact sediment cores. Dr. Mandy Joye's lab from the University of Georgia will use these cores for biogeochemical profiles and rate measurements. Photograph by Heath Mills 
Dr. Ian MacDonald, seen inside the sphere of the Johnson Sea Link submersible, is slowly lowered toward the water for the first dive of this cruise. After a thirty minute descent, Dr. MacDonald will have three hours on the bottom to collect hydrate, sediment, and water samples from a depth of 1750 feet. In the foreground, Sigurd Tesche Tisherajdf records the launch as a part of a documentary on the Gulf Stream. Photograph by Heath Mills 
These small plugs of gas hydrate were collected with a newly designed drill
developed by Texas A&M and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. The drill
will help the team to study how gas hydrate form and to detect
microbiological activity at different layers within surface deposits of the
substance. Photograph by Ian MacDonald
July 04, 2001 Dr. Joseph Montoya from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Allison Heater, crew member of the SEWARD JOHNSON, work to deploy the CTD during the 
early morning hours of July 4, 2001. The CTD will provide Dr. Montoya's lab
data on the salinity (conductivity), temperature, and density of the water column from the
surface to a depth of 560 meters. CTD measurements will be collected daily
for the duration of the cruise. Photography by Heath Mills
The Fourth of July would not be the same with out some fireworks. With a lack of pyrotechnics on board, Mother Nature provided the show with a spectacular sunset allowing everyone aboard a second to pause for a moment from their busy schedules. So ends another day of great weather and successful operations. Photograph by Heath Mills  | |
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