Welp, that's it! Yesterday completed the full SCUBA mask training (see below!) Last few dives of our training were finished this afternoon. The papers are signed, the lessons were learned, the skills are improved. We're finally ready to get down to the real work!
I will have to say that the training on the new masks were some of the most difficult I've had so far. The masks are designed in such a way that the regulators (breathing device) only fit in one particular position. This can make it quite difficult when you have your mask flooded full of water, or are buddy breathing with someone who is out of air! For the first time ever, I genuinely felt a little panic at not being able to properly clip in my air supply. That said, we got through it! I am a better, more comfortable diver for having done so, because in the end that is what training is all about. The situations we prepare for are exceedingly unlikely to happen, but should they occur, it's comforting to know I am able to handle them.
Although I'm happy that we all have made it through the training, it's a bittersweet ending. Fellow aquanauts Liz and Grace will be saturating later in the mission, so Andy and I won't be seeing our new friends every day as we've become accustomed! Usually it's easy to get tired of being around the same people, but after spending almost every minute of every day of the past two weeks with these folks I have to say that they are some of the best people I've had the opportunity to work with (rest of the Aquanauts and production crew also included!). It may not seem like a big deal, but when you are going to be spending so much time in constant contact with each other, group cohesiveness is very important! Sadness aside, we will all still be involved in the mission until July, so I suppose I can save the teary goodbyes until then!
Bonus video of me and Andy cruising around in our new masks.
I will have to say that the training on the new masks were some of the most difficult I've had so far. The masks are designed in such a way that the regulators (breathing device) only fit in one particular position. This can make it quite difficult when you have your mask flooded full of water, or are buddy breathing with someone who is out of air! For the first time ever, I genuinely felt a little panic at not being able to properly clip in my air supply. That said, we got through it! I am a better, more comfortable diver for having done so, because in the end that is what training is all about. The situations we prepare for are exceedingly unlikely to happen, but should they occur, it's comforting to know I am able to handle them.
Although I'm happy that we all have made it through the training, it's a bittersweet ending. Fellow aquanauts Liz and Grace will be saturating later in the mission, so Andy and I won't be seeing our new friends every day as we've become accustomed! Usually it's easy to get tired of being around the same people, but after spending almost every minute of every day of the past two weeks with these folks I have to say that they are some of the best people I've had the opportunity to work with (rest of the Aquanauts and production crew also included!). It may not seem like a big deal, but when you are going to be spending so much time in constant contact with each other, group cohesiveness is very important! Sadness aside, we will all still be involved in the mission until July, so I suppose I can save the teary goodbyes until then!
Bonus video of me and Andy cruising around in our new masks.
In other news we had a pretty cool little manatee visitor to the Aquanaut house. Incredibly photogenic and benign, he only stopped by long enough for us to get some really cool pics, and to notice a ton of scars all over his back. There's a big problem in Florida of these guys getting hit by propellers, which isn't helped by the fact that they will often dive just a few feet below the surface when they see a boat coming, making them nearly impossible to avoid. :-/
As part of a final instruction with some of the equipment we will be using, my advisor Dr. Kevin Boswell stopped by with a new toy in hand. From our friends at Sound Metrics, we received for use a dual-frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) that can be carried by a diver! These devices operate on a very high frequency of sound, and are kind of similar to a sonogram of the water column! (video here). Since they operate using sound instead of light like a traditional camera, this will allow us a view of the reef that cameras can't achieve! We will be able to examine fish and reef structure at night with zero light and during the worst visibility days. This has some big implications when you realize that most night studies require the use of lights, which inherently affect the way that fish behave. The small flip-down display on Fabien's mask here to the left is actually a small computer monitor that will allow us to see data in real time. So excited to get out and play with this one!
- A view inside the heads up display of the handheld DIDSON. This is the same tech that Navy divers use to detect mines and intruders often 40-50 feet away, in water that sometimes has less than a foot of visibility! Of course on Aquarius we will be using this for fish detection to get a window into the night time activities of fish.
Well, as our dive safety officer Roger Garcia said yesterday, "It's officially too late to turn back!" As we move forward into the media and logistical frenzy that will be splash down day tomorrow, I want to remind everyone that what we are doing is very safe! Safer in fact, than a standard day of driving in Florida. Here we see a woman watching videos on her phone while driving. I think I'll take 60 feet underwater over that any day!
Tomorrow's the big day, and my next post will be from the Aquarius habitat itself! I'm so incredibly excited to get down there and get set up. First thing on the plate for Andy and I will be to get the sonar equipment sorted out. Since it attaches to the habitat with cables that can be a few hundred feet long, there's a big old crow's nest waiting for us to untangle down there. From there we'll move onto the coral portion of the project and hopefully get into some sort of schedule. I'm sure there will be many pictures and stories incoming, so stay tuned. There will be also be a ton of live coverage, so keep an eye out on the Mission 31 Facebook page, Twitter account, and Instagram page for more info! There will also be live webcams from the habitat, which I'll link once we get down there.
See you all down below, here we go!
Tomorrow's the big day, and my next post will be from the Aquarius habitat itself! I'm so incredibly excited to get down there and get set up. First thing on the plate for Andy and I will be to get the sonar equipment sorted out. Since it attaches to the habitat with cables that can be a few hundred feet long, there's a big old crow's nest waiting for us to untangle down there. From there we'll move onto the coral portion of the project and hopefully get into some sort of schedule. I'm sure there will be many pictures and stories incoming, so stay tuned. There will be also be a ton of live coverage, so keep an eye out on the Mission 31 Facebook page, Twitter account, and Instagram page for more info! There will also be live webcams from the habitat, which I'll link once we get down there.
See you all down below, here we go!