March 8, 2008

More rocks today. Right now we are arriving at Horse Shoe Island. We’ve
been pretty successful so far. One more day of rocks and we’ll be back to
coring for mud at the third station.


A fur seal supervises rock collecting.


Hey Dave, what did that rock ever do to you?

Rebecca came back to the ship last night with a bucket full of
invertebrates. The ROV proved fully functional and effective. They had
incredibly good luck on the initial deployment. When they dropped it into
the water, there was soft bottom. They were able to use the arm and goody
bag to gather sea urchins, brittle stars and a nudibranch. Then like all
good luck, it had to end. The next two spots were rocky and too deep.
The ship them back, and we were off. The animals are happily munching
labeled algae as we write.


Andrew, Karin, and Sarah look pretty happy to be taking a ride on the zodiac.

Position: 67 degrees 46.753 minutes South; 67 degrees 06.636 minutes West
Heading: 160.7 degrees
Speed over ground: 8.5 knots
Air temp. 3.7 degrees C; Water temp. 0.612 degrees C