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DISPATCH 2: "Disciplined Research" - 6.01.2006 | Mark Carroll 
The
R/V Seward Johnson cut a southerly course through rolling seas into the early hours of the morning. Several
miles off the ship's starboard side the glowing lights of Florida's southeast coast dotted the shoreline and
reflected off the undersides of fast-moving clouds as much of the crew slept below deck. By morning, the ship
had arrived at the Miami Terrace.
A gray dawn came and went under the weight of a heavy rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as nearby merchant vessels passed through the haze like ghost ships. Then, as quickly as it had started, the weather moved on. The Johnson-Sea-Link manned submersible sat on the aft deck of the ship, wet from the rain. Its prominent, acrylic sphere made the sub look like a good sub should look (a la standard issue Sci-Fi flick). The sub's crew, still in their dripping raingear and yellow helmets, prepped for a morning dive. This was to be the sub's first scientific dive of the mission. With a full complement of pinchers, grabbers, samplers, thrusters, suction hoses, collection buckets and four-member crew (including ABC News in tow), the sub launched off the aft deck into calm seas. Within seconds it had disappeared into the depths on its way to an encounter with the deep-water reefs. The dive would take about three hours (a chunk of which would be eaten up just descending and ascending) and had a twofold purpose: to reconnoiter the area and to collect a diverse set of samples to match the diverse set of interests aboard ship. As it turns out, this would be easier to accomplish than anyone might have guessed. 
By the time the sub surfaced and was back on the ship, the day had progressed into a hot afternoon. The science team grabbed the samples from the sub and headed into the ship's wet lab where they promptly began cataloging and preserving the new specimens. Among the modest collection were several crabs. Collected next to them was a sponge, and on the sponge a brittle star, within it a fish, and beneath the sponge a microbe rich sediment sample. It was a snapshot of the biodiversity below. Such a small sample had already yielded something to entice just about everyone aboard. This was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Within hours, the sub had been readied again. The sun set and with that it slipped back into the dark waters and descended a second time. Blog 2: "Aboard" - 6.01.2006 The sun was out in SPF50 force today. Luckily, the ship's air-conditioning (like the crew) was working overtime. It's nice to have a few amenities like that out here. Come to think of it, being at sea is really a lot like being home...with a few notable differences. The food is good and the company is pleasant. But, here the floors move (although you get used to it over time) and every window has an ocean view. Elbow room in the shower might be a little tight, but the water is still hot and the beds are still comfy after a long day's work. There is always the remote possibility of being drowned, but I suppose a slip in the bathtub could result in the same demise. 
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