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FATHOMING THE GULF STREAM - Nature's Pharmacy and Eyes In The Sea MISSION DISPATCH 7 • 08/25/02 Today's Weather - images courtesy of NOAA & RSMAS Dispatch by Brian Cousin - HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution Even though it's Saturday, operations continue full-ahead aboard the R/V Seward Johnson on the final leg of this Ocean Exploration mission. The Johnson-Sea-Link II submersible is making it's full schedule of dives today. The first is a training dive. Tim Askew, Jr., pilot of the HARBOR BRANCH submersible Clelia, is getting checked out on the controls of the JSL. The dive will meet science objectives as well, retrieving 
Dr. Tammy Frank's benthic traps and
Dr. Edie Widder's Eye-in-the-Sea camera. The second dive will focus on
Biomedical Marine Research collections, with
retrieving
Dr. Shirley Pomponi and Don Liberatore up front in the sub. This morning, Dr. Pomponi took time out to compose some
thoughts on work at sea - about the thrill of discovery, about life on board, and an interesting turn of fortune when
it comes to leaving family and friends behind at the dock...
- Shirley Pomponi, Ph.D. Although most people probably think that working at sea is glamorous, it does have its disadvantages: we're away from our family and friends for long periods of time; we're on the job or on-call 24/7; we have to bring with us the personal supplies that we'd normally have easy access to at home; and our sleep patterns can be altered due to work schedules, ship noises, or sea conditions. Anything that makes us feel like we're at home (like our favorite CD's, snacks, a pillow, 
hobbies or crafts to work on) helps to minimize the disadvantages of a working sea cruise-but we still miss our family
and friends. On the positive side, though, we get to do and see things that very few others can experience. What many
people can only experience through videos or TV documentaries, we get to experience in real life, every day we're at sea.
Without a doubt, the best part of my job is being able to go to sea and dive in the Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles. Each year, our research team gets to spend about four weeks at sea, searching for marine organisms that produce chemicals that may be useful as drugs. During the nearly 18 years I've worked at HARBOR BRANCH, I've made a few hundred dives in our submersibles. With the exception of maybe one or two dives (like when we had to abort a dive because there were so many fishing lines that could entangle the sub), I've seen something unique or interesting on every dive. We've discovered many new species and identified dozens of chemicals with pharmaceutical potential. But I'm even luckier than most of my colleagues because I don't have to say good-bye to all of my family when I leave the dock. My husband, Don Liberatore, is the Chief 
Submersible Pilot and Manager of Undersea Vehicles. He's worked at HARBOR BRANCH for nearly 25 years, and has
logged more than 1500 submersible dives as a pilot. Although Don goes to sea more than I do-about three to four months
a year (but, thankfully, not all in one stretch!)-we've been fortunate to be able to arrange our schedules so that we can
often go to sea together. So, even though we can't go out roller-blading together after work and we don't have all of
the creature comforts we have at home, we really do have the best of both worlds: our intersecting careers enable us to
see and do some pretty amazing things and share these experiences with each other. In the words of Jimmy Buffett,
"...Mother Ocean,...in your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen." Don and I have been lucky enough to see these
treasures together.
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