Day 7
Everyone is busy working up the fluid and rock samples. We measured the temperature of the vents yesterday – over 300°C!
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| Date: | 7 August 2009 |
| Weather conditions: | overcast; very dark sky and black sea |
| Temperature (air / water): | 9.5/ 6.9 °C |
| Wind speed: | 8.7m/s |
| Wave height: | some chop, our first occasional white cap |
| Location: | 73°N, 8°E |
Daily report:
The second ROV dive yesterday returned to the deck late and full of samples that kept people working well into the night. The macro-biologists deployed their second mochness trawl with catches under, in and over the vent plume. One of the nets brought up an unusual organism that they have not been able to identify yet - something between a flat worm and a polychaete.
The Discovery film team has been working round the clock trying to keep up with all the activities on board: both the scientists and the crew work 24/7. We have been watching various episodes from the Mighty Ships series and are very curious how the G.O.Sars episode will be.
We are heading down with the ROV again. Our goal is to get samples of more white bacteria mat, more vent fluids and then a tour down the slope to get some macro-biology samples.
We arrived at the bottom on the northeast side of Joao vent, near where we had found the tubeworms last year. What a sight greeted us!! We were in a bigger tubeworm field, but there were also veins of bacteria mats - signs of diffuse venting paths. In amongst the tubeworms were the white amphipods, millions of snails decorated all surfaces - like sparkling sequins. There were some shrimp and by counting the number of rays in its fin, Hans Tore identified a vent fish.
As we began to explore the area we stumbled on a field of unusual mini tower structures. Some were covered in thick foamy mats of white bacteria. It is a phenomena that even our most experienced vent expert, Marvin, has never seen before. We harvested a couple of the mini towers with our sampling drawer to bring to the surface. What can they be? How are they formed? What are they made of?
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