Expedition 13 Mail Buoy: December 12

Have you noticed any impact on anemonies, jelly fish, squid or octopus. who seem extremly suseptible to damage? I realize the whole food chain may be at risk.

Thank you to the entire crew for their attention to our fragile waters. I know time away from families can be rough. I'm a genealogist whose speciality is Scotland. I used to travel twice a year, alone by myself.

Goodluck with your mission.

Thanks, Mary

Dear Mary:

We are seeing some damage to corals, but corals die all the time, so whether it is the result of oil, we can't say right now. We have already sent samples of tissue out to labs for chemical analysis and that should tell us if hydrocarbons have in fact been taken up by animals on the seafloor.

—Walter Cho, WHOI

I am doing an expedition log on Expedtion 13, and my groups topic is life on board, my partner got an email saying you were going to be possibly mentioning things in an upcoming daily update, but is it possible that you could tell me what it is you do for recreation, and do you have any pictures of it on board?

McKenzie Erickson

Dear McKenzie:

Many of the crew exercise (there is a treadmill and a stationary bike below decks). Kami Bucholz tries to run at least 3.5 miles per day and she recently ran a race with her father while on ship (she ran the same distance as the race while her father actually competed). Two of the crew practice martial arts (muay thai, tai chi, and kung fu). Many of them read and almost every watches movies. The captain used to tie fishing flies, but he said he hasn't unpacked his equipment recently. There is a room with several guitars that I hear someone using occasionally—and one of the crew is supposed to be a very good classical guitarist. Like always, a lot of the crew spends time on the internet writing email and following the news back home, also. I think tomorrow will be a good opportunity to take some pictures—the weather is getting worse and we won't be diving Alvin.

—Ken Kostel, Science Writer, WHOI

How will the failed sediment trap impact your future research?

Courtney

Dear Courtney:

It's a setback, but not the end of the world for us. We're disappointed not to have the samples, but we had two traps deployed in the area and we know that the other trap was beneath the surface slick, so it probably has more information for us. We hope to pick that one up at the end of the cruise.

—Chris German, WHOI

What would be done if the Alvin's battery system malfunctioned and the crew was stranded thousands of feet below the surface? Thank You for your time, and good luck!

David Jin

Dear David:

It depends on the malfunction, but we have lots of options. We have emergency batteries in the sphere for back-up power that would allow us to release the ascent weights and float to the surface. If there's a more significant problem, we can also jettison one or both main batteries.

—Mike Skowronski, Alvin pilot

[Editor's note: Listen to Dave Walter describe some of Alvin's safety features in the December 6 daily update.]

The following questions are from Ms. Sheild's 7th grade science class, Clarke Middle School, Lexington, MA

Why do you have to remove your shoes when you get inside the Alvin? I'm from Ms. Sheilds class and we thank you for answering all of our questions.

Makia Tabb

Dear Makia:

The seal around Alvin's hatch is metal-on-metal. That's the best, most secure kind of seal for a deep submersible, but it means that even the tiniest piece of grit could compromise the seal. Even a scratch in the metal could be a problem, so we ask people not to wear rings, watches or belts either.

—Kory Verhien, Alvin Electronic Technician

I'm one of of Ms. Sheild's seventh grade students. Why is the 3 inch thick sphere the biggest technical challenges of the upgrade?

Dear Alex:

The sphere has to be completely uniform and aligned perfectly to withstand the pressure in the deep ocean. The company that is finishing it had to build special machinery and test that several times before cutting holes for the viewports because we only have one opportunity for it to be absolutely right.

—Mike Skowronski, Alvin pilot

Hello, I'm Justin, one of Ms. Sheild's students at Jonas Clarke Middle School. I was wondering if you could tell me what system is used to remote control the Sentry? Thank you for your time, and I hope your mission is successful!

Justin Oh

Dear Justin:

Sentry is autonomous, so we don't actually control it during its mission. We have a remote that we use when it's on the surface, but that is only to position it correctly so we can recover it from the water. It reports back to us from the water and we can tell it to change its mission (kind of like driving a car by text message), but mostly we just program it and let it carry out its mission.

—Sentry Group

Hi my name is Tamara i am from Ms. Sheild's 7th grade class. I was wondering if you know how old can coral live to? Thank you for you time. Have fun under the sea!

Tamara Manoli

Dear Tamara:

We know of one black coral that was aged to nearly 4,000 years.

—Andrea Quattrini