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MISSION DISPATCH 6 • 07/17/01 Today's Weather - images courtesy of NOAA & RSMAS • RADARSAT Images Dispatch by Heath Mills - Georgia Institute of Technology July 16/17, 2001 After spending a full day in the busy port of Fourchon, LA, it was a relief to get back on the water. Our luck with good weather seemed to run out over the weekend. With showers and squall lines pushing through, the seas churned more than at any point so far, but still they were small compared to waters experienced by this boat and crew on other cruises. Our last round of bad weather went through Monday morning with the sighting of two waterspouts in the distance. But since Monday morning, the weather has 
been clear and calm, making the night sky explode with starlight. Currently,
dive and surface operations continue successfully providing all the
scientists aboard plenty of samples for future research.
After visiting the highly mechanized Port of Fourchon, a sight like this was a welcomed change. White egrets perch in the shore brush in numbers reaching the hundreds. But even this view of a serine marsh cannot escape the metallic backdrop of a dozen oil rigs. This area is truly controlled by the oil industry, although nature refuses to surrender. Photograph by Heath Mills 
Revisiting site
GC185 on Sunday provided an opportunity to sample the Gulf
sediment using a box core. As seen in the picture, the box core must be
carefully deployed to ensure not only a usable sample, but also to guard
against personal injury. Lance Miller from Georgia Tech (far left), Sophie
De Beukelaer from Texas A&M (middle), and Mike Vardaro from Texas A&M (far
right) guide the box core past the rail, for a 45 minute round trip journey
to the Gulf floor. Sediment trapped in the box core is then sub cored,
allowing large quantities of stratified sediment to be collected and
distributed to all of the research groups. Photograph by Heath Mills
In an apparent contradiction to the weather reports, Dr. Mandy Joye from the University of Georgia wears several layers of warm clothing while completing 
a sensitive protocol. Clothing like this is more than necessary when working
in the environmental room aboard the Seward Johnson. The environmental room
is kept at a balmy 8°C, mimicking the temperature of the sediment at the
bottom of the Gulf. In the photograph, Dr. Joye is manipulating sediments
under anoxic conditions by working inside the glove bag. This procedure and
several others being completed by the Joye lab have forced them to spend
many hours at less then tropical temperatures. Photograph by Heath Mills
Pre-dive activities include several discussion sessions and planning meetings in order to more efficiently collect samples and deploy equipment. With different projects all requesting different configurations of the JOHNSON-SEA-LINK's platform and equipment, the meetings often move to the back deck. In the end, there is little space left on the platform and few minutes to spare on a three-hour mission. Photograph by Ian MacDonald 
Dive mission 4321 to site
GC233, a
brine pool, represented the third
successful dive using the modified A-frame. It also marked the first
sphere dive for visiting researcher Dr. Heide Schultz. During this mission,
Dr. Schultz had the responsibility to collect brine water and sediment as
well as deploying a thermister array and collecting an agar tree. The water
and sediment samples will be distributed between Dr. Schultz, Dr. Montoya,
Dr. Sobecky and Dr. Joye. The thermister array, part of Dr. MacDonald's
work, will collect data from the bottom for one year. The agar plugs, part
of Dr. Sobecky's research, will attempt to isolate cells in situ.
Photograph by Heath Mills
As the old saying goes, "Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." If this holds true, we should find ourselves 
with some great weather conditions because not only was the sky red on
Sunday the 15th, but so too was the water. Everyone aboard the ship will
realize back on land how lucky we have been to witness a plethora of
spectacular scenes. Each day, Mother Nature has given us a show with no
equal. The days are filled will sharp blue skies, and crystal clear water.
Nights have been calm, disrupted only by bursts of starlight that guide our
skyward eyes. In between these two extremes, the sun and water dance between
the horizon and the clouds, providing everyone aboard a moment to a pause
and reflect. Photograph by Heath Mills
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