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After a 17-hour steam, we arrived at our next dive site, DeSoto Canyon. This will be the deepest dive of the expedition going down to 2500m. All of the scientists are abuzz with the anticipation of what they may find at this new site. I am very excited because I will have my first watch in the van in the afternoon…

At 1600, I head out on deck to go to the van for my watch but it is pouring! I grabbed my raincoat and made my way to the van just before a huge crash of thunder. It is dark inside the van with screens everywhere. Jason II is equipped with cameras to get views from all angles of the vehicle. It is pretty awesome and I am immediately enthralled. It was very cool to watch the science cam in the lab but seeing all of the angles gives a complete feeling of what is going on below. It is much easier to post some of the video than to try to explain it. So here are two videos, one assembly of Lophelia and some very cool critters and the other of this awesome octopus we saw while I was on watch.

Click on images to view videos:

A snapshot of some Lophelia coral (the white coral)

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videos courtesy of Lophelia II Cruise 2009

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Being the in van as we came upon this octopus was incredible. We watched him for a few minutes filming and taking still pictures as he swam along and checked us out. While much of the dive is filming, another huge aspect is collecting of organisms. Jason is able to collect critters with precision so they come up to the surface in great condition. It is very cool. At 2000, my watch was over and I headed out of the van to warm up (they keep it very cold in the van for all of the equipment). I watched a beautiful sunset and headed back into the lab to do some work. Jason will be retrieved in the morning so there will be a lot to do early…

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