Hi Richard,
We transplanted the corals during our mission last year (June 2008).  The two species of coral we transplanted have very different growth rates and patterns.  The branching staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) transplants that have survived have more than doubled in size while the mounding coral (Montastraea faveolata) grows very slowly.  Important to the purpose of our study, it appears that some of the coral groups from different sources, or even different coral genotypes from the same source, have significantly higher growth rates than others, and may thus serve as more fruitful transplants for restocking.

Dr. Margaret Miller
Aquarius Principal Investigator
NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service

Dear Luis,
No one has ever been inside Aquarius during a hurricane.  We carefully monitor impending storms all year long and if one could possibly impact us during a mission it is canceled well in advance.  We believe in “better safe than sorry.”

To prepare for a storm the first thing we do is get the scientists out of the habitat and send them home.  We then secure things as best we can, removing lines, flooding or removing gazebos, unhooking the umbilical, and sometimes moving the Life Support Buoy.  We then make sure all equipment is secure at the base, then secure our homes, and then evacuate or ride it out.

Otto Rutten
Associate Director, Aquarius Reef Base

Day two of the mission was dedicated almost entirely to our inspections, survey, and operational review, and day three saw an end to diving at 10:00 in the morning to be ready for deco. Looking back on this short mission we accomplished what we had set out for ourselves. Most importantly we conducted our special American Bureau of Shipping certification inspection/survey, as well as a visit by US Navy Diving/NAVSEA to review their waiver with us to allow Navy divers to saturate in Aquarius. Secondly we did a successful test of a new waystation with umbilical capabilities that will allow divers saturated in Aquarius to conduct three hour dives at the PTC mentioned on day one. Lastly and certainly not any less important, was that we conducted a successful first mission for the year after four months of off-season maintenance; and we had Ryan serve admirably as hab tech on his first saturation. This was also Jason’s and Derek’s first missions topside on our team, and their contributions before and during the mission helped make it a success.

Next up are the US Navy SRDD divers, coming for two back-to-back 5 day missions. They dive the MK16 rebreather exclusively, and our techs, first Dewey and Roger, then Justin and Roger, will be diving our Inspiration rebreathers, so our HP compressors on the Life Support Buoy overhead should get a nice vacation.

Until next mission,
The ARB Team

If you’re not sure what Twitter is, check out the video below.

While we were completing our final go/no go checklist, the topside crew with Mark and Jason were potting down the last of our food and dry things, while Dewey and Tim G changed out one of the overhead boat moorings, and Justin and Roger (“Chief G”) deployed a 400’ umbilical from a waystation 300’ southeast of Aquarius. They attached it to diver panel in the station at 85 fsw, then used scooters (DPVs) to bring it back to Aquarius. That umbilical would carry me out to the Elk River Station (ERS) 650’ from Aquarius, where I could stay for three hours to do maintenance and husbandry. The ERS is an ex-Navy PTC or diving bell that once proudly served in Navy Diving, including the Sealab program in the 60’s. It sits in 115 fsw and is anchored to the seabed atop a 7’ tower, and today’s dive marked its first link with Aquarius, via the new SE Crossroads Station. Habitat techs from Aquarius, as well as Navy divers in next month’s missions, will be able to excurse to the ERS and do maintenance and further construction as we build a training site that could be used for Navy diver training with their SATFADS program.

Our US Navy Diving Medical Officer Doc Dave Johenk also paid us a house call today, and lest we not forget that we were supported back at the base Watch Desk under the watchful eyes of Nate, Otto, Derek, and Dom.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for us, starting with our dawn dive and daily checklist on all interior and exterior systems, then preparation for our annual American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) survey. It’s our ABS inspection and certification that keeps our underwater habitat in business, and involves real time video inspection inside and out, with the ABS surveyor speaking directly to the diver outside or tech inside, while watching the video from the comfort of our base 9 miles away in Key Largo. We’ve prepared well for it, but it’s the maintenance that we routinely and regularly conduct, and the skills of our staff that make it all happen, just as it has since we first operated Aquarius at Conch Reef in 1993.

If tomorrow’s ABS inspection goes as well as today’s test dive to the ERS we’ll be very pleased about our start for 2009 operations. Coupled with the training Ryan absorbs from James and I (mostly James), we’ll be better poised to take on the challenges of the upcoming missions, first two Navy missions in May, then science missions dedicated to coral reef restoration in June, and ocean acidification in July.

One cannot end the day without some mention of the “wildlife” we routinely see here at Aquarius. There are no less than five Goliath Groupers here now (Earle, Noah, Ike, and a couple yet to be named), Ryan swears he has seen seven. Earle is the biggest at 250+ lbs, and judging by the size of his belly, he just ate something of size. I was also greeted when I arrived at the ERS by a school of no less than 100 large permits ( a member of the pompano family), quite a site from my perch atop the PTC.

Time to let the snapping shrimp above Aquarius lull me to sleep as it has James and Ryan. First I must manufacture some sort of “breathe right” strip for James out of duct tape, his snoring pierces the quiet confines of our steel underwater home!

Until tomorrow, living the dream in Aquarius.

Dear Victoria,

Having spent all my adult life working in the marine environment has given me a love of the ocean that made me jump at the opportunity to live undersea for an extended time.  My work and love of the ocean is shared by my wife and children so while I miss them very much, we are still able to communicate and they get to share my joys and experiences.  This gives them a better appreciation for the marine environment that is presented in an exciting way, plus it makes Dad seem like a pretty cool guy!

Bob Hi asked:  What kind of creatures do you see in that area?

The Aquarius is surrounded by a coral reef, so we mainly see animals associated with the coral reef, such as mound and head corals, fish such as parrotfish, sergeant majors, groupers, schoolmasters, blue chromis, barracuda, and more.  Every once in a while if we are lucky, we may see a sea turtle, eagle ray, moray eel or even a nurse shark.  None of the creatures pose a danger to the aquanauts, but they are a treat to watch throughout the day.

Tristan W. asked: Hi, 

i have a few questions:

1. What kinds of animals do you see most frequently. see above

2. Whats the average temperature underwater? It varies from winter to summer, but around 70 to 80 degrees F.

3. When your not doing research,what keeps you occupied?  Aquanauts stay busy communicating with their colleagues and friends, reading, eating, resting, working up their data, planning their dives and research for the next day, and sleeping when they are not out diving.

Justin Norman >.< asked: I had another question. In your sea labs, do you ever see any “out of the ordinary things” underwater?

Justin, it depends on what you consider “ordinary”.  For aquanauts every day underwater is a treat.  One time I saw a barracuda eat a squid snack.  I bet every person that has lived underwater has seen something they were surprised about.

Victoria L. asked: I have a few questions 

.I wonder what type of fish you see on your expedition, are they scary looking or interesting.  Nothing scary, but all are interesting (see answer above)

.Do you have fun when you diving.  Diving as an aquanaut is hard work, but for most of us it is also a lot of fun.

.Have you ever seen something that could damage your sea lab.  Not yet!

C.Marshall asked: How do you guys get electricity down under water that deep?

We have a generator on a big buoy that sits on the surface overlying the Aquarius lab.  It is connected to the undersea laboratory through a cable and provides power.

T Smith asked: do you guys get sea sick just because when on a boat people get sea sick?

People get seasick due to motion due to wave action, such as at the surface on a boat.  But undersea, you really do not feel wave action too much (unless they are pretty big waves), so rarely do people living underwater get seasick.  In the undersea lab you don’t really feel the wave motion at all.

jade L. asked:      Hey I am a 6th grader from Maine in my science class we are building a model sea labs. Here is my question. Does Aquarius ever move your sea lab to different waters so that you can compare and contrast your studies from each body of water ?

thanks for your time.

- your young aquanaut

Dear Jade,

Aquarius stays in one place, fixed to the seafloor.  Although we cannot study other places, this lets us monitor change in the coral reef and ocean around the habitat over time and to study many different aspects of  the same coral reef ecosystem.

Kimberly asked: When you were a child did you want to be an aquanaut? If not why did you choose this profession?

Dear Kimberly, 

As a child I loved nature and then learned to dive in High School.  I did not even know what an aquanaut was, but as I became more interested in science and the ocean, I decided to become a marine scientist.  Later I was very lucky to be able to do two missions in Aquarius as an aquanaut!!!!  Anything is possible if you work hard and follow your passion.

Thanks for the questions and good luck with the school project. Remember a lot of the answers to your questions can be found in previous blogs, answers on our site and in the information on missions and projects or About Aquarius on the web site.

Dr. Ellen Prager

Chief Scientist, Aquarius Reef Base

. Is it true that we’ve only explored 3% of the ocean