10/22/05
Mickey from Randolph county wants to know what
impressed Reneé most about her submarine dive.
The entire submersible dive experience was priceless, so it is very hard to choose
what impressed me the most. It was a unique feeling, entering into a quiet, unhurried
world. Everything felt in balance and right with nature. The colors of the Galatheid
crabs were an intense, bright orange against the grays of the coral rubble. I'll never
forget the bioluminescent show against the black darkness as we rose back to the surface.
Svetlana from Russia wants to know what kind of fish you see on the bottom of the ocean.
There are several types of fish that we commonly see on the ocean floor. There are a wide variety of scorpion fish,
which are generally reddish and lurk on the bottom. We also see conger eels, which are fairly large, as well as some
smaller eels. Last night we caught a hagfish. These strange fish don't have any jaws, only one nostril and vestigial
eyes. They are scavengers and eat by rasping their way into the body of dead animals. Hagfish also produce a great
quantity of slime. We caught one last night and were amazed by the copious amounts of slime it produced.
Riley, a first grader from Tennessee, wants to know why the deep-water corals
you study aren't as colorful as corals on the Great Barrier Reef
You are right that the corals on the Great Barrier Reef are quite colorful. Most corals are colonial,
which means that big groups of coral polyps live together and make the large structures we see. These
polyps have microscopic algae that live inside them and give them their color. The deep-water corals
that we study are quite different. They are so deep that there is no sunlight at all. These corals do
not have any algae that live in them, so these corals do not have any color. Instead they are the bright
white that you see in the pictures.
Dustin, a third grader from Randolph county, asks if you have seen any squid.
Yes, we have seen several squid. During one dive we watched a school of about 100 dart past the front of the sub's sphere.
Paula from Brithish Columbia asks Reneé Green, Educator at Sea for Life on the Edge 2005:
Is it as tiring as you thought it would be? Have you been scared at all?
The crew makes everyone feel secure. They are very professional and instill confidence in all of us on board.
The scientists are tops in their field. It is fascinating just watching them do their jobs. As for being scared
or tired, I have not felt either of these. I have been fighting seasickness throughout most if the trip and
the change of working in the day to working at night has been a difficult transition.
