Dr. Peggy O'Day

Oct. 22 – 25:
Dr. Peggy O’Day Answers Your Questions

	Hi my name is Winnie and I am a junior at Episcopal High School. I was wondering if you ever get scared going down under water. What is your most exciting or interesting experience that you have had on board. Thanks so much for you time. Hope to hear back from you. Thanks — Winnie Simmons
	Hi, Winnie — We did an experiment where we put a package of minerals down on top of a hot vent, and then came back the next day and brought it back to the surface. When we looked at the mineral surfaces, bacteria had already begun to colonize on them. We are doing this to look at how bacteria first establish themselves on minerals in these hot environments and what kinds of bacteria they are.

	Do you get bored in the Alvin? I would. Thanks. — Monica and Kendall
	Hi, Monica and Kendall — Once you get to the bottom, there’s an amazing amount of things to look at — beautiful chimneys, tube worms, crabs, clams, fish. Most people find that the time goes by very fast and they don’t want to leave.

	How long is the Pompeii worm, what does it look like, and what does it eat?
	The average pompeii worm is 3 to 4 inches in length. The bacteria that live with it help it to survive. Check out the Web site to see what it looks like and how it lives.

I am a student at a high school in Texas, and my oceanography class has been learning about Alvin and the
Extreme 2001 project off the Web site. How is it possible for animals to survive down near the vents when the Web site said that toxins were constantly coming out of them? — Easton Riley and Caroline Wray

Hello, Easton and Caroline —

The interesting thing about different organisms is that what’s toxic to us is food for them! Some of the organisms that live near vents have bacteria living with them that convert the toxic substances to a form that the organism can eat. The bacteria in turn live off of secretions from the organism. So each benefits from the other and takes advantage of the warm environment around a vent.

Dear Dr. Peggy O'Day,

These questions come from some of the 6th graders in my Science class at Hillside Middle School in Manchester, NH. If you can try to answer a few of them, we would appreciate it. By the way, my students LOVED the expedition! — Thanks, Melissa Dion

1. How thick is the glass in the portholes on Alvin? — Stephanie Boisvert

2. Could the temperature in the deep sea ever get hot enough to make the water boil, even with the weight of the water above it? — Mary Moreau

3. Was “Godzilla” the tallest hydrothermal vent? If not, how tall was the tallest one? — Matt Paulson

4. Are there any animals that you have expected to see but have not found them yet? — Marlee Bruning

5. Would students (age 12 and up) be able to go on an underwater expedition with scientists? — Jessica McIntyre

6. Do you feel different when you go down deeper and deeper? If so, in what ways? — Alicia Doucet

7. Do Pompeii worms attack? — Justice McDaniel

(1) Hi, Stephanie — The Alvin pilots tell me that they are made of three-and-a-half-inch plexiglass.

(2) Hello, Mary — The hottest deep-sea vents found so far are about 400° Centigrade, and the weight of the overlying water is still enough to keep it from boiling. Below the surface of the seafloor, temperature
increases, but so does the pressure. Something very interesting happens to water beyond a certain temperature and pressure — it doesn’t boil at all! If you put enough pressure and temperature on
water, it doesn't separate into a gas and liquid. It simply stays as a single fluid that has properties somewhere in between a gas and a liquid (called a “supercritical” fluid). The water inside the Earth
is under enough pressure and at high enough temperature to be in this supercritical state.

(3) Hi, Matt — Godzilla was certainly one of the tallest chimneys ever found, but I don’t know if it holds the record. I’ll see if I can find out from the scientists who discovered it.

(4) Hello, Marlee — We are mostly studying organisms that have already been discovered to understand how they live in these environments. We are always on the look out for new things but haven’t found anything yet on this trip.

(5) Hi, Jessica — Probably not, but not because we don’t want you! The amount of money available for scientific research is very limited, and because there is only one Alvin, it’s difficult for scientists themselves to get time on these expeditions. However, we do have a number of college students here on board, so if you study science and math in school, you might find yourself on a research cruise someday.

(6) Hi, Alicia — Alvin is pressurized just like any submarine, so you don’t feel much different inside. It just gets very dark outside once you get below the surface to a depth where light cannot penetrate.

(7) Hi, Justice — We’ve never seen Pompeii worms attack anything — they don’t move around too much.

	I’m a student at Westford Academy. I was wondering if the pressure at the bottom of the ocean affects the people even though you are in the submersible?
	Alvin is pressurized just like any submarine, so you don’t feel the pressure. The main difference is that the air is a little different from normal air.

Hi Dr. O’Day,

I’m Austin with the Clayton School, and I’d like to know how thick the hydrothermal vents chimneys are. Thanks for a great adventure! — Austin Clayton, Ft. Collins, Colorado

Hi Austin —

Hydrothermal vents vary a lot in thickness, depending on how old they are and how vigorously they are flowing. When they first form, they are very small and fluffy, maybe only a few centimeters thick. With time, they precipitate different minerals that tend to make them stronger and harder, and can grow to be very large. Most of the chimneys at this site are relatively young and thin, less than a centimeter to a few centimeters thick.

Dear Dr. O’Day,

I’m in 9th grade and interested in going into the field of marine sciences. I was wondering, what kinds of chemicals are in the water around the vents? Thank you for your time. — Jenna Clayton, Homeschool, Ft. Collins, Colorado

Hi Jenna —

Most of the water around the vents has the composition of normal seawater, but it’s very cold, about 2-4° Centigrade, because it is so deep. The fluid coming out of the hot vents is very different from seawater, having a much higher concentration of sulfur and iron. However, the volume of water ejected from the vents is small compared to all of the surrounding seawater, so it mixes quickly with the seawater and gets diluted. It is only very close to the vents where the composition of the water is a mixture of vent
fluid and seawater, and this is why there are so many organisms living right next to the vent.

	What is the most interesting thing that you have helped discover at the hydrothermal vents and what is it like discovering something brand new? — Whitney Meeds, Royal Palm Beach High School, Florida
	Hello, Whitney — Every time Alvin goes down, people see new things. We have explored only a very small amount of the ocean floor and don’t really know much about the organisms living there. The oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface and not much of it has been explored — it’s exciting and there’s a lot to learn about the geology, chemistry, and biology of the deep oceans.

Dear Dr. O’Day! —

We are a group of high school marine science students in Jacksonville, FL, at Mandarin High School, and are really enjoying following the exploits of your team and the expedition. We would like to ask a few questions:

1. What plans are there to rescue the Alvin if there were some type of difficulty encountered during a dive at the vents? How would the sub get back? What would the crew need to do to facilitate being rescued or rescuing themselves?

2. What is the picture that seems to be emerging in the overall ecology of the vents since their discovery back in the mid-70’s? Beyond what we already know about the chemosynthetic symbiosis, what seems to be your perspective on the fundamental and overall biology of the ecosystem as a whole?

We don’t know if these questions are clear, but we have studied the vents a little in class, and it seems a lot has been learned, but with all the continued research, we'd like to know what is the latest besides the standard information that is in the current texts. We’re very excited that there may be a correlation between the bacteria at the vents and the possbility of similar life forms existing on Europa. Is there anything more you have learned about this?

We look forward to hearing from you, as we are following the expedition in class every other day.
Thanks. — Mandarin High School Marine Science Class, Jacksonville, Florida

Hello Mandarin High Students —

Alvin is a very safe submarine. It’s never had a serious accident. Although it goes down for about 8 hours or less per day, there is enough air to last for 3 days. Alvin is built so that it needs weight to keep it down on the bottom. If something goes wrong, all the pilot needs to do is release all of the weight and it will just
float up to the surface. The ship constantly monitors where Alvin is and what it’s doing, so there’s plenty of people on the surface to take care of anything that happens.

Most of the research on seafloor hydrothermal vents has focused on what’s at the surface — the macro- and micro-organisms, the chimneys that grow and fall, the chemistry of the fluids emitted at the seafloor. This of course is fascinating, and we’ve learned much about an entire ecosystem that is fueled by heat energy from inside the Earth rather than powered by the Sun, which all surface life is driven by. What we don’t know much about is what’s happening underneath the surface. We know that hydrothermal systems are quite large underneath the surface, but we really don’t know too much about how they work. What is the nature of the “plumbing” underneath what we see on the surface? What kinds of microorganisms live inside of seafloor hydrothermal systems? What is their interaction with minerals and fluids, and how does the entire system change with time? We’ve only had the opportunity to see the surface expression of
hydrothermal systems; it’s much more difficult to figure out how to explore the subsurface. But this is important because understanding how they work on the scale of larger geologic and planetary systems
might give us some idea of whether or not they exist on other planets or moons such as Europa, and may give us some idea of what to look for as we explore these other planetary bodies.

Hello, how are you on this fine day? I have a few questions for you.

1) Why did you decide to go on this expedition?

2) What does the bottom of the ocean look like?

3) Do you think that your finding will change anything we do in our daily lives?

4) Do you think that any thing you are doing and the tools you are using could have been changed by things people have just thought up? — Nate Cannon, AZ Masa Skyline High School

Hi, Nate, everything is great out here.

(1) It’s a very special opportunity to go on an Alvin cruise. There’s only one Alvin and there’s not much money for science research, so it’s difficult for scientists to go on these kinds of expeditions. I’m very lucky to be on this cruise.

(2) The bottom of the ocean is very dark, much too deep for any sunlight to penetrate, so Alvin needs very bright lights to see anything.

(3) It’s very hard to predict what will come out of the science we do on a daily basis. Very often, it takes many years of research before we understand things enough to draw new conclusions. Other times, a
breakthrough may come quickly. Some of the scientists on this cruise are looking at the DNA and RNA from the microorganisms that Alvin brings back. It’s possible that these might be used in the development of new drugs or specialized bacteria for cleaning up toxic wastes, for example, but we don’t really know yet.

(4) Science and technology go hand in hand. As we try to understand the science of hydrothermal systems, we realize that we need new ways to look at them and make measurements. So we are constantly working with engineers to develop new tools and technology to help us make better
measurements or different kinds of measurements, which then can lead to new scientific discoveries.

Hi my name is Luke. I was wondering how long you have been studying the ocean.

Hi Luke —

Actually, I do a variety of different kinds of geochemistry. Part of my research involves seafloor hydrothermal systems, which I’ve been studying for the last couple of years. Another part of my research looks at surface environments, mainly soils and sediments, where I study the chemistry of toxic metals from pollution, and try to figure out whether or not they are hazardous. The fun part about chemistry is that it happens everywhere on Earth, so you can study many different kinds of geochemical processes in
many different places.

Hi! We are two students from the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School. We were wondering how you became interested in geochemistry. Has studying the ocean floor changed your life? — Rachel Sullivan and Ashley Williams, Warsaw, Virginia

Hi, Rachel and Ashley! —

I’ve always like science and math in school, and I particularly liked studying the Earth (and doing a lot of camping). I was a geology major in college and looked at rocks (and did a lot of rock climbing). But I liked chemistry too, and was interested in environmental issues, so I began to study the chemistry of the
environment in graduate school. Now my research is split between environmental chemistry, studying toxic metals in soils and sediments and trying to figure out how to make them less hazardous, and the hydrothermal chimney chemistry you’ve been reading about. I really enjoy traveling to different parts of the planets to study chemistry and geology, and the bottom of the ocean is a pretty exciting place to go.

	Hi, Can you tell me more about the Fangtooth fish? What eats them? What is their life cycle? and what are the differences between males and females? — Rachelle
	Hi, Rachelle — The fangtooth is a pelagic fish that doesn’t live right at the vents. It doesn’t have many or any predators at depth because organisms are so far and few between at that depth. The scientists on Alvin cruises study mainly vent organisms, therefore your best bet for fangtooth information would be to do a search on the Web.

I have a question about how you bring back your samples from the deep ocean. Our teacher explained to us that you're not able to bring up all new specimens that you find because of the pressure difference. I was wondering why you just don’t put them in a pressurized container, and then instead of just
opening the container in a regular lab, why don't you open it in a pressurized lab with some sort of special suit for the scientists? Thank you. — Tyffany McIntyre

Hello, Tiffany —

We have some special boxes that we put the creatures in at the bottom that preserves them, but we don’t try to keep them alive. It is too difficult on the surface to recreate the extreme presssure and temperature of the environment that they live in. There have been a few experiments to grow tubeworms in a special tank on the surface, but it is very difficult. Fortunately, we can look at and culture the bacteria and microorganisms that come up because many of them are not very affected by the change in pressure.

Hi! I am Allison from Kulshan Middle School in Bellingham,Washington. I’m sure you have no time to waste but I hope you can answer a few of my questions.
How long did it take you to train to do all of this?
What is your favorite deep water sea creature?
When did you find you'r greatest discovory? What aquptment did you use?
How long have you been intrested in marine life?
Thank you for your time.

Hi Allison —

Going down in Alvin as an observer doesn’t take much training. Basically you watch and take video pictures. The pilots who control Alvin do all the work, and it takes them at least two years to train as an Alvin pilot. My favorite deep sea creatures are the crabs that live around the vents (I think they are very cute).

	Hi crew, I’m Hannah in the 6th grade at Kulshan Middle School and I just wanted to know what is your favorite thing so far going down or if your not in the ocean. Then what do you think your going to see while you go down. Thank you for your time answering my question.
	Hi Hannah — My favorite thing to look at are the hydrothermal chimneys and the different structures they make. The minerals that make up the chimneys are very interesting and can tell you a lot about the history of the structure and how it formed.

	HI!!!! I am Kevin from Bellingham WA! What Is your favorite thing down there? Is it cold down there? Thanks for answering my questions.
	Hi Kevin! — Yes, it’s very cold at the bottom of the ocean, just a little above the freezing point of water. This is why all of the life at the bottom stays close to the hydrothermal vents where the water is heated by the hot fluid coming out of the vents. I’m a geologist, so I like the chimneys and the different structures they make. Each one is very unique.

	Hi, my name is Ian Wells and I was wondering about some questions. How long could you stay down in the deep in the Alvin? Do you need a certain amount of air to breathe down there? Thank you for answering my questions and I hope you have a safe journey.
	Hello Ian — Alvin typically goes down for about 8 hours each day. It has enough air for three people to last three days as a safety precaution. It is meant to just go on daily trips to the bottom and not to stay underwater for a long time like other, bigger submarines. --

	Dear DR.Peggy O’Day, HI my name is Melanie from Howell, New Jersey.I would like to ask you some questions. When ever you go down in the ocean do you get scared?Why or why not? Do you ever see the same thing twice when you go down in the ocean? Well thank you for your time and have a good day. — Howell Middle School North
	Hi Melanie — There are so many interesting things to see once you get to the bottom that time goes by very fast and you forget about where you are.

	Dear Dr. Peggy O’Day, Hi my name is Olivia And I'm from Sebring Ohio. I'm also go to B.L Miller school, which was picked out of the 180 schools. My question is are you going down in the expadition,andif you alredy have how many times have you gone down. What do you study will your in the lab. My last question is what got you hooked on marine biology, and how many years did you go to college.
	Hello, Olivia — I’m actually a geologist, not a biologist, so I’m interested in the rocks and minerals that form from the hot fluids at the chimneys. I spent many years in college getting my degrees, but I really enjoyed it because I was always doing something interesting. I will probably get to go down in Alvin sometime in the next few days.

Hello my name is Billy and I'm from Royal Palm high school, and I’m a junior, and I have a question for you. I have my scuba certification and you know that every 50 ft. is equal to 1 dry martini (martini's law). Would anything similar too that happen to you in the vessel? I know that you aren’t breathing on scuba but what exactly are you breathing? And do you feel any different when you go that deep?, because when I dive like 100 – 130 ft. it has a big effect on me. Thank you. — Billy Weatherholt

Hi, Billy —

The Alvin holds enough oxygen for three people to breathe for three days, although it goes down for only about 8 hours at a time. It is pressurized just like a submarine, so you don’t feel the pressure the way you do on a scuba dive.

	Dear Dr.Peggy, My name is Ty and I have two questions for you. First question what is it like down in the bottom of the ocean floor, and what is your favorite sea creature there?
	Hello Ty— It’s very dark at the bottom, which is why Alvin needs bright lights to see anything. I personally like the crabs that live around the vents — they are very cute!

Hello again, I have another question, with all of the research you’re doing do you think its possible for life on Europa? If so would you give your information to NASA or the government or something, that would be really cool. I really love Marine Biology that's what I want to be when I grow up. I don’t know about all of the deep stuff but that would be really cool, and I think the research you’re doing is going to help a lot of people, they just don’t know it. Thanks again. — Billy Weatherholt

Hello again Billy —

I think we don’t know very much about how life evolves on planets, so it’s very hard to know if we will find other planets with life. My own feeling is that if we do discover life on other planets, it will probably be microbial life — very simple organisms such as bacteria, which we are discovering on Earth in types that are very tolerant of extreme conditions. I suspect that it is very difficult to evolve complex forms of life such as what we have on Earth and unlikely we will find such creatures within our solar system.

Dear Dr. O’Day,
Hi, I am Sara G. a student of Howell, New Jersey and in my science class
in Middle School North we have been reading about this expedition. These
are some questions my class and I might like to here answers about:
1. What has been your favorite sea discovery?
2.What kinds of music do you listen to on the way down?
3. What do you like about being a geochemist?
4. What has been your favorite trip in the Alvin?
5. In the Alvin do any crew members' share ideas and facts they have
found?
6. What is your favorite part of the trip?
7. When you leave the Alvin do you ever miss being in the sea?
Good Luck on the Alvin! Have fun and Thank You!
Sincerely,
Sara G.
Howell, NJ

Hi Sara —

It’s been very exciting to be a part of this expedition. So far, the scientists going down in Alvin have recovered tubeworms, pompeii worms, and crabs, and also brought back parts of chimneys and
fluid samples from the chimneys. I'm a geochemist, so I am interested in the minerals that make up the chimneys and the composition of the fluids coming out of them. We would like to know what kinds of bacteria live inside of the hot chimneys and how they manage to live there. The Alvin pilots know more about about the bottom than most of the scientists because they have been down to the bottom more than anyone. We rely on them a lot to tell us where to go, what to collect, and what’s different from the last time a place was visited. The Alvin pilots usually decide what music to play on the way down, which can be just about anything.

Hi I am an 11-year-old curently attending Howell Middle School North, and currently in my science
class we are studying your adventure, and i have a few questions.
1. Do you go down in the Alvin?
2 If so doesn't it get boring(although you have a CD player)?
3. How many people usually go down?
4. How many feet?
Thanks for your time doctor, and i am looking forward to your replies
— Allison M.

Hi Allison —

I will probably go down in Alvin sometime in the next few days. Yes, it has a stereo system (when it’s working) and you can play music on the way down and up. Alvin holds three people — the pilot, who drives and works the arms, and two scientists who observe what’s happening and take video and pictures. A typical dive to the seafloor goes to a depth between about 2,000 and 2,500 meters (see if you can convert that to feet).

Dr. Peggy O’Day,

Hi, our names are Lee, Dave, and Sharon and we would like to know why you would want to go that far underwater? I think your work is fascinating. I can’t wait to be a marine biologist so I can go underwater and discover new and exciting stuff. You look really nice in your picture and I like your name.

Sincerely, Lee, Dave, and Sharon, Edmonson Middle School, Ypsilanti, Michigan

Hi, Lee, Dave, and Sharon — Thanks for writing. It’s very exciting to travel to the bottom of the ocean and to explore new places and creatures. Study your math and science in school and maybe someday you will have the opportunity to be great scientists and travel to exciting places!

	Dear scientists — What’s up?
	We’re enjoying ourselves and keeping busy with Alvin dives every day. There’s always something to do when Alvin brings up samples.

	Dear scientist, Hi we are two students from Westford Academy. We were wondering if you have ever brought a non-human aboard the Alvin, like the monkeys they sent into space? And what is the most amount of people you have ever sent down in Alvin?
	Alvin holds three people: the pilot who controls the sub, and two observers. I don’t think any other animals have ever been down in Alvin.

Suppose, a young vent crab is brought up to the surface. We know that young vent crabs can survive in 1 atm. When this vent crab matures, can it adapt to 1 atm? — Jessica, Wickford Middle School

Hi, Jessica —

I don’t know how long the crabs can survive at the surface — I’ll ask one of the biologists.... This is what Brandon Jones has to say: The way to keep crabs alive at 1 atm is to pressurize and depressurize them every couple of days. For example, keep them in pressure aquaria (1,500 psi) for a couple of days and then take down the pressure while the aquaria are being cleaned and/or are undergoing other maintenance (this has actually been done at the University of Delaware College of Marine and Earth Studies). The crab has then been gradually introduced to 1 atm repeatedly, but at small increments. We have not figured out the maturation trick. In other words, we have not been able to get crabs to molt in their juvenile stages in a successful manner. As post-larvae they seem to molt into juveniles okay, but getting from juvenile to adult seems to be a problem. It seems the younger the crab, the more pressure-tolerant they are, which may explain how larvae and post-larvae are dispersed (high in the water column) from vent to vent.

I was wondering while you’re down that low in the ocean and by such hot minerals have you found any new typs of rocks or minerals down there cause it doesn’t really talk about minerals or rocks that much. and if you have found any new minerals or or rocks what are they (like what did you name them) because I know with the intense heat and pressure for being down that low in the ocean it could probably form new types of minerals or rocks. And have you found like signs of prehistoric life down that far in the ocean or new species of prehistoric life? — Brandon K.

Hi, Brandon —

Most of the minerals that precipitate from the vent fluids are well-known sulfide minerals such as pyrite (fool’s gold) and chalcopyrite, or sulfate minerals such as anhydrite, or silica (similar to quartz). Although the temperatures and presssures at the bottom of the seafloor are higher than at the surface, they are still relatively low compared to what is found deep inside the Earth many kilometers below the surface. It takes much more heat and pressure inside the Earth to form minerals very different from what we see at the surface.... We haven’t found any new forms of macroscopic life. However, some of the bacteria that have been found are new types, and some of them can survive at pretty warm temperatures, near the boiling point of water.

	Hey my name is Luke, I was just wondering when you go diving in Alvin if you ever get the feeling like you are a prisoner in side and you want to just get out of there? Also, I was wondering if you brought games to play for the 2-hour trip to the bottom of the ocean? And if you don’t bring games than what do you do for 2 hours???? — Luke C. Beazley
	Hi, Luke — Usually people listen to music, review their notes, and get ready for the work they need to do when they get to the bottom. It is very busy once you get there, so it's important to be prepared. Once you get to the bottom, there are so many interesting things to see that you forget where you are and time goes by very quickly!

Dr. O’Day — How many female scientists are on board? How did you know that you wanted to be a geochemist, and please explain what exactly that is. Thanks — Ms. Wenson, Edmonson Middle School

Hi, Ms. Wenson —

On this cruise, about half of the scientists on board are women. I’m the only geochemist; the others are biologists. A geochemist is someone who studies the chemistry of the Earth or planets. This may involve many different kinds of studies related to Earth or planetary chemistry, everything from climate change to pollutants in the environment to the chemistry of black smoker chimneys. It’s a great field because there are many different kinds of problems and questions associated with the Earth’s chemistry.

Hello, I live in Arizona too, cool beans! Well, in my studies I’ve found that when we bring up samples from the floors of trenches, the organisms will often have bags of gas in their bodies. By bringing them up to the surface for further studies, we kill them because of the pressure difference — it causes the gas pockets to expand and pop. Does your team collect samples from deep underwater? If so, how do you keep the pressure difference from killing the samples? Thanks. — Matt Roll, Dobson High School

Hi, Matt —

Yes, the organisms we bring up from the bottom can’t survive at the surface. We don’t try to keep them alive; it’s much too difficult to recreate the temperatures and pressures they need at the surface. However, we are sometimes able to grow or culture the bacteria that are brought up from the bottom. Some of them appear to be less affected by the change in pressure than the macroorganisms.

Hi, We’ve been enjoying the journals and photos that are posted. We were wondering what the minerals were which were placed at the vent on Friday and left overnight for the bacteria to colonize? My class was also wondering, if we pay for the shipping, could you shrink one styrofoam cup for us? Thanks. — The Landlocked dry West Texas oceanography classes from Carver Center, Midland, Texas

Hi, Carver Center Students —

We put down a mixture of minerals that we thought might attract high-temperature bacteria. This included a mixture of pyrite (fool’s gold), chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and quartz. In one of the chambers, we added some apatite, which is a mineral that contains phosphorus. Phosphorus is not very abundant in the vent environment, so were hoping that this mineral will attract some interesting bacteria. About the cups, we are working on a surprise for you....

	Hi my name is Audrey Sharp, I'm a student from B. L. Miller Elementary school of Sebring, Ohio. I would like to know what your biggest discovery that you ever made dealing with your role in this study? I also want to know if you are having fun so far on the Atlantis?
	Hi, Audrey — Yes, we’re having a great time. For our experiments, we are still waiting to retrieve them from the seafloor, so we don’t know if they are working yet. We did recover some chimney material yesterday that that was intact and looks like it has some bacteria in it.

	What would happen if the Alvin went over a hydrothermal vent? Thank you. — Michael Powis, 6th Grade, Deer Park Middle Magnet School, Baltimore County, Maryland
	Alvin tries to avoid driving through the hot vents. The outside does have protective shielding and working parts that can tolerate the corrosive environment of the ocean, but it’s important for the pilots not to damage the outside.

Dear Dr. O’Day,
Hi! My name is Heather Markley. My school was one of the picked schools to learn about the mission. I wanted to know if you are going to study every thing or in particular just the hydrothermal vent. I also wanted to know what do you like most about going down there. — Heather Markley

Hi, Heather —

We are looking at how young chimneys form and what kinds of microorganisms move into the hot chimneys once they begin to cool down. I'm interested in the chemistry of the fluids that come out of
the chimneys and the minerals that precipitate from them.

	Dear Dr. O’Day, Hi! It's Heather again I just thought of another question. What is a Plutonaster seastar? How does it live? What does it eat? What are the life cycles? Do they live in communities or alone? How long do they live? And what are their predators? — Heather Markley
	Hi again, Heather — No one knows the answer to this, so we’re giving it to Dr. Cary.

	Hi, My Students are wondering which are more numerous — the Black Smokers or the White Smokers? Thanks. — R. Bartel, Midland, Texas
	I don’t think we know the answer to that question. White smokers tend to form on slower spreading ridges where the temperature is cooler. Black smokers form at ridges that spread at a faster rate and have higher temperatures. We haven’t been able to survey enough of the seafloor to really know the distribution of all of the smokers or their different temperatures and chemistry.

	Hi, I just wanted to say that it looked like you guys are doing some pretty cool stuff down there, so good luck with your research and I hope everything is going and continues to go well. Sincerely, Melissa
	Thanks, Melissa, we’re glad everyone is following along!

	Hello Dr. O’Day, We are Ms. Chase’s 8th grade science classes, and we’re following your research expedition. Here is a question from Wes Wiscombe.... What animals have you seen on your trips to the deep so far? Thanks for letting us “come along” on this research expedition.
	Dear Ms. Chase’s Students — We’ve seen lots of tubeworms, Pompeii worms, crabs, and some shrimp. There are a lot of creatures around the vents. We’re glad to have you all along on the expedition!

	Dear Mrs Peggy, What is it like to see what is under water? Do you ever get scared or frightened because you see all of thoes werrd animals? — Becky (Carver Center GEM)
	Hello, Becky — It’s actually very interesting to look at all of the creatures that live around the vents. They don’t seem very bothered by the lights on Alvin.

	Dear Dr.O’Day, Hi, I would like to ask you a question. What’s your favorite thing to see down in the ocean? Thank you for your time. — A 9th grader, Boston, Massachusetts
	It’s interesting to watch the crabs crawl around the vents. They’re pretty fun to watch.

	Hi, I just wanted to say that it looked like you guys are doing some pretty cool stuff down there, so good luck with your research and I hope everything is going and continues to go well. Sincerely, Melissa
	Thanks, Melissa, we’re glad everyone is following along!

	Hi Peggy, How do the Pompeii worms reproduce? Are there male and female or are they unisex? — Scott
	Hi, Scott — I’m not an expert on the Pompeii worm, so I’m passing this on to someone who is, Dr. Cary.

	Hi, I just wanted to say that it looked like you guys are doing some pretty cool stuff down there, so good luck with your research and I hope everything is going and continues to go well. Sincerely, Melissa
	Thanks, Melissa, we’re glad everyone is following along!