Friday, February 11, 2005...

We began our first of a series of Alvin submersible dives. The submersible carries three people: a pilot (today, Expedition Leader Pat Hickey) and two scientists (today, Chief Scientist Jeff Karson and Nick Hayman). The photos show Alvin’s launch procedure. While the sub is on deck, Jeff and Nick board through a hatch at the top; the sub is lifted by a huge rope attached to the A-frame and placed in the ocean; divers standing on the sub detach the rope, perform various checks, and then swim to the small boat nearby. The submersible then begins its hour-long descent to the ocean bottom, in darkness to conserve battery power for work on the ocean floor. A typical Alvin dive spends about five hours on the ocean floor, covering a distance of about a kilometer, and collects about 20 rock samples.