The work days have begun. More and more rocks pile up on deck every day, it feels like we are bringing the entire seafloor up to the surface. OK, that might be exaggerated, but still, carrying all that stuff from the deck to the lab is tiring. There is work for everybody, and everyone’s skills are put to good use. Routine tasks include: sawing the rocks, cleaning (the laziest use the hose!), describing the samples, analyzing the hydrothermal fluid samples, supervising the deployment/recovery of Abyss (the AUV), Victor (the ROV), conducting dredges, processing magnetic and bathymetry data....
To recover from our emotions, a break time has been initiated every evening before lunch, allowing us to share a nice time together with drinks, snacks, and a beautiful sunset in the background.
To recover from our emotions, a break time has been initiated every evening before lunch, allowing us to share a nice time together with drinks, snacks, and a beautiful sunset in the background.
We sometimes enjoy the company of some birds that stay with us for several days before leaving for new adventures. They provide a good incentive to run around the boat trying to photograph them, allowing some short but intensive exercise going up along the infinite staircase of doom…