Hi, Clay. Well, I haven't gone for a nine-hour dive in Alvin, but I have been inside for a half-hour orientation. I have also talked with the people who have been on dives so far, and I can tell you it's pretty cramped. There IS enough room to fit 3 adults, but stretching out or changing position is next to impossible, so most people on our science team are coming out sort of hunched over and stiff. It gets pretty cold in the sub because (apart from the water coming directly out of the vents) the ambient water temperature is about 2°C. So, that doesn't help as far as stiffness is concerned. But, I haven't heard ANY complaints; everyone comes out sore, but excited!

As for using high-tech tools, I like using them a lot. It' definitely rewarding to work on the cutting edge. But, as your system gets more complex, there are more things that can go wrong--and at 2500m down, you don't want things to go wrong. So, many of the sampling devices on Alvin are equipped with backup methods for using them. Even with high tech stuff, the simplest design is usually best. Thanks for your questions. -- Kurt

Hi there Ann! Oh, please, call me Kurt. Yes, "viral ecologist" is quite an unusual title...and if I had submitted that information instead of my advisor, I probably would have been labeled as "student." Anyway, as a viral ecologist, I am interested in how viruses figure in to the complex web of relationships in different ecosystems. When I speak of viruses, I am mainly referring to viruses that infect bacteria, also known as "bacteriophage" or simply "phage" (rhymes with "cage"). Most people are familiar with bacteria, and they know that bacteria are everywhere, and in high numbers (even at the vents!). But what we are only recently finding out is that phages are even MORE numerous than bacteria (out numbering bacteria by as much as 10 to 1) AND phages have been found in every place that bacteria have been found (even at the vents!). We think that phages have a huge potential for being active members of the ecosystem by controlling the total numbers of bacteria, by controlling the distribution of bacterial species, and possibly by assisting in the shuffling of DNA between bacteria through a process called transduction. I wish I could explain more, but this answer is already getting pretty lengthy! Anyway, our main goal on this cruise is to determine how important viruses are in the functioning of vent ecosystems. Of course, this will take more than one cruise to determine, but you have to start somewhere. Hmm...I don't know yet what I will be for Halloween. We have to make our costumes ONLY from materials we can find on the ship, so it should make for some interesting ensembles. When you combine this with the fact that you're talking about a ship full of scientists who deal with bizarre-looking creatures....I'm sure you'll get some excellent pictures on the web-site. Thanks for your questions! -- Kurt

Hi Kate, thanks for your questions. Let's see...the Pompeii worm is classified like this -- Kingdom: Eukarya, Phylum: Annelida, Order: Polychaeta, Class: Palpata, Subclass: Terebelida, Genus: Alvinella, Species: Pompeijana. I should note that there is some argument among scientists as to the exact class and order groupings, so these may change and we get more information on the worm.

As for being in Alvin, I haven't actually been. So, I'll have to get back to you if I am selected to dive. I can tell you that the people who have gone so far have told me the best thing is simply being there. How often do you get to visit the bottom off the ocean in person? Seeing such an environment on a video screen can inspire wonder, but seeing it out your window is beyond words. Thanks for your interest! -- Kurt

Well hi there, mystery student! I guess I'll just call you "Rusty." A typical dive lasts about 8 hours: we try to put the sub in the water by 8:00 a.m., but it has to be back on deck by 5:00 p.m. in order for daily maintenance and systems checks to be performed before the next day's dive. The schedule is different each day, but in general the day is spent collecting samples and recording data. The sub cruises around to that day's selected targets (usually specific vents or chimneys) and records things like temperature, size, and location. The sub is equipped with a basket on the front. This basket is really a box with lots of compartments for storing samples. The Alvin pilot uses the manipulator arms to grab things like tubeworms, Pompeii worms, pieces of chimney material, fish, small woodland creatures, or whatever has been specified in the dive instructions, and places these into designated compartments in the basket. Alvin can also be outfitted with other pieces of equipment for taking water samples or bacteria samples, which basically work by sucking the sample into a tube. The pilot uses a combination of view port and cameras to see what he's doing as he carefully grabs different samples and places them in the basket. It requires precision, and these guys are good! I hope this answers your question. Take care now! -- Kurt

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Hi Mom! Well, who would have expected? It's so wonderful to have such supportive parents and I'm really glad your question got through. In the water samples I am dealing with, I expect to find several things: no doubt there will be dissolved iron and sulfur compounds (which may precipitate out of solution, that is, turned into solid particles, and cause us problems), but I am mainly interested in the bacteria and viruses in that water sample. We collect about 100 L (about 29 gal) of water from the vents. We run this water through two sets of filters: one retains bacteria, the other retains viruses. In essence, what we do is to push out all the water so that we end up with all the bacteria or viruses that were originally present in that 100 L of water, except now it's in about 500 ml of water. We will be using the bacterial and viral concentrates to attempt to isolate new virus-host systems, and hopefully to find out more about how viruses figure into ecosystems.

Thanks to you and Dad for giving me every opportunity to construct a future for myself. I love you both. Your son, Kurt

Well hello, mystery caller! This question is a bit difficult because we don't actually find new organisms on every dive...at least not that we immediately know about. So far into this cruise, I haven't heard of any new macro-organisms (things we can see with our naked eyes). Tubeworms, Alvinella, mussels, crabs, and fish can all be found at the vents, but these have been "regular customers" for some time. We may find new bacterial strains quite frequently, but it takes a lot of time, usually back on land, in order to determine just exactly what we've got. So, it's difficult to know how often we're getting new kinds of microorganisms. I can tell you that on last year's cruise (2001) my advisor, Eric Wommack, made the first attempt at isolating viruses from the vent community and our group was successful: there are viruses at the vents! So that was a new discovery. The next question is: how important are they in the workings of the whole ecosystem? And that's what we're keen on finding out. Thanks for your interest! -- Kurt

Hi Austin. Wow, I'll bet you're a popular guy with all the Austin Powers movies and what-not. But to get on with your question...I may have to sort of duck it. I mean, really, they're all pretty funky and unique. I hope you're seeing the pictures on the web site! It seems like in the vent community, everything is just weird: the worms, the fish, the spider crabs, it's really like a bizarre alien world. And if you could look under a microscope, even the bacteria are weird looking compared to terrestrial bacteria. So, I would have to say that all the creatures are unique. But, not to completely sidestep your question, I can tell you which one I think is most interesting: the tube worm. It has no eyes, ears, mouth, stomach, nothing. It lives off the waste products of bacteria which live inside it. Weird!! And kind of gross. Stay cool, yeah, baby, yeah! -- Kurt

Hi Erica! That's a great question. The answer is: not much. The ocean floor at the vents is 2500 m or more below the surface. Water tends to damp motion (I don't mean damp like wet, I mean damp as in to reduce) so anything happening on the surface is very diminished even a few meters deep. Strong storms might mix the surface water, but the effects of that mixing are pretty small even at 200-300 m below the surface. Thanks for your interest!

Dear Kyle,
The short answer is: yes! In case you're interested, here's how (please note, if you're not interested, stop reading this NOW!): Plate tectonics refers to the movement of the giant plates that make up the Earth's crust. Basically, two things can happen where these plates meet: Convergence, where one plate is running into another, or rifting, where two plates are pulling apart. The case we're interested in is rifting. When plates pull apart, molten rock from the mantle creeps up, forming new crust. If this happens at the bottom of the ocean, the cold water can solidify the magma before it completely creeps up to same level as the ocean floor, and we get a trench. Trenches can also form as the result of undersea earthquakes disrupting unstable crust. In both cases, the ocean gets a little deeper. Thanks for your question.

Hi Justin and Chase. So, a team effort, eh? Collaboration is good in scientific investigations as we can all learn from each other. Well now, to get on to your question, that is a point of some contention, a "grey goo" problem as it were. Which means there's no one answer that everyone agrees upon. However, most scientists place their chips on the theory of natural selection. It goes something like this: In any environment, only those organisms capable of gathering enough resources to survive and reproduce will pass their genes on to the next generation. Over long periods of time (on the scale of millions of years) we end up with organisms that are so good at surviving in their specific environment, they are usually quite unique. Take, for example, a human and a rat-tail fish from the sea bottom. The human has binocular vision, fingers for manipulating objects and legs for walking, breathes through lungs, and is comfortable at 1 atmosphere of pressure. The human cannot survive at the vents outside of a carefully constructed and sealed environment that mimics his own (that is to say, a submersible like Alvin). The rat-tail fish has eyes set on either side of its head, fins and a long tail for swimming, breathes through gills, and is comfortable at 250 atmospheres of pressure. If you bring a rat-tail up from the ocean floor, its eyes usually pop out because its internal pressure is equilibrated with its environment. Now, I did say that there are other explanations as to how this sort of thing happens, but I'll leave that research to you. I hope this has started you towards an answer, but in science, you're more often rewarded with more questions rather than a single answer. Good luck! And I'll pass your greeting along to Dr. Cary!

Hi there, Danielle. For starters, you can check out the biographical information about me on the web site. There's a section on how each scientist got involved in marine research and/or education. But I'll still give you at least a short answer. I've always been curious about the world: taking electronic devices apart to see how they work, rigging up home-made tazers, examining moldy bread, and of course, wondering about the most important of all questions--Why? Why does this happen? Why is the sky blue? I am also VERY intrigued by how we learn new things, I am curious about how we satisfy our curiosity. So, science and scientific research is really interesting to me because I can find out the answers for myself and I can see the process as it happens. It seems that you always appreciate a thing more if you had to work for it than if it was simply given to you. With the knowledge gained through your own research, you work quite hard for it at times, and so you tend to appreciate the lessons you learned a little more than if you were sitting in a lecture hall. It's a great feeling to be asking those questions no one has yet thought to ask...and maybe even getting some answers! As for the dives, I would never thought I'd be here, on a ship, doing this sort of work. I started out as a soil microbiologist, but I kept asking questions. So, foster your own curiosity, keep following your leads. You never know where they'll take you! -- Kurt

Hi Robert! The ride in Alvin, as I understand, is pretty smooth once you're below the waves. At the surface, you're bobbing around like a cork, and some people get motion sickness. However, during the descent and ascent of the sub, you can't really sense any motion at all. At the bottom, the sub moves pretty slow so the sensation of movement is very small, especially if you close your eyes. Watching the video monitors or peeping out of the view ports gives a better sense of how the sub is moving. I hope this answers your question. -- Kurt

Hi Jessie, Casey, Aileen, Julia, Justin, Chaase, Livia, Dana, and John (whew!) You guys are going for the group effort! There are many different organisms to be found at the vents: spider crabs, tube worms, Pompeii worms, mussels, fish, bacteria, even viruses. As for how hey got there, I answered a similar question from Justin and Chase above. In all likelihood, the bacteria were there first, making use of the heat and chemicals coming from the vents as a source of energy. From there, other organisms which used the bacteria as a source of food came along. Many scientists think that life at hydrothermal vents is most like life from primitive earth, before it had an oxidizing atmosphere. As to how the bacteria got there in the first place, or where the higher organisms came from, I refer you to my answer to the previous question from Justin and Chase...there's more than one point of view on that one. Let me know if you figure it out, because I'm still working on it! -- Kurt

Dear Lisa, you asked about adapting to a pressure change as you descend though the water to the ocean floor. The simple answer is that we don't have to do any adapting because the pressure never changes. The sphere inside of the sub (where the pilot and scientists sit) is pressurized at 1 atmosphere and sealed. The sphere is made of titanium and surrounded by a substance known as syntactic foam which does not shrink under pressure (like the Styrofoam cups you may have head about). All these precautions are taken to avoid a change in pressure inside the sub, because there would be no real adaptation to speak of. After about 200 meters of descent, it would get uncomfortable very quickly! Thanks for your question.

Hi Cassie, Oh, you make me laugh! "Being a scientist for many years"! I am a mere child compared with some of the crew on this trip, like Dr. Tayler or Dr. Cary. But despite my relative lack of experience and even naivete, I am not without hopes or expectations, as you asked about. Personally, I hope to find new strains of bacterial viruses lurking there, infecting the bacteria that live around the vents. Most people don't think too much about viruses, especially in an environmental context. But I hope to find out more about what viruses are doing in the vent ecosystem. Maybe I'll discover an intense phobia of small confined spaces, too, but we shall see. Thanks for your interest, Cassie. -- Kurt

Hey there, Chris. Wow, not even looking ahead to the next question, I already alluded to it in my answer to Cassie, above. Am I good or what? Claustrophobia does, in fact, affect a few science crew now and then. We don't wait until we're on the ocean floor to find out, though. While the ship is moving to the dive site, everyone on the science team has a half-hour orientation with the sub. We take turns, since only 3 people can fit at once; usually two science crew and one pilot, who leads the orientation, go in. During this time, if anyone has problems with the small space inside, it can be brought to the Chief scientist's attention and that person will not be selected to dive. Good question! Thanks for your interest.

Quite a lot of questions coming out of Royal Palm Beach High... I guess you're just an inquisitive bunch. The temperature change is delayed in the submersible. As you drop through the water column, the temperature goes from about 30°C at the surface to about 2°C at the bottom. inside the sub, the temperature starts to drop after a few hours, and keeps going down. Moisture in the air condenses out and makes everything inside the sub wet. Since it's open to the outside air prior to diving, the sub starts out around 28°C (about 82°F). By the end of an 8 hour dive, the interior temperature is about 17°C (about 52°F), but the moisture makes it seem colder. Temperature can affect the people inside if it drops too low. The extreme case is hypothermia, where the body is losing heat faster than it can be generated...This would really only be an issue if you had to spend more than 8 hours at the bottom without appropriate clothing. But most divers wear warm clothing and bring extra with them. The sub also has blankets for keeping the crew warm and dry. I hope that answers your question! -- Kurt

Hi Craig! Well, I haven't actually observed any deep sea fish in person, but I have seen video footage from dives made by other scientists on this cruise so far. I think that the rat-tails (it looks sort of like a snake with a long, flat tail) are interesting. The fish moves around mainly by whipping its tail from side to side. And it's got a pretty gruesome face to boot. As for this experience inspiring me to do further research: trips like this, where you interact with so many other people from other areas of expertise are always good for the ego. It makes you realize just how little you know. You might know a lot about a very specific thing, but you find that when it comes to subjects outside that realm, you are sorely lacking in expertise. But that just makes me want to find out more, ask about those things that I don't know. Usually I find a greater appreciation for how my work overlaps and fits in with that of other scientists, and just maybe, how my work might contribute to a greater understanding of our world. Thanks for your questions! -- Kurt

Hey, that's a great question! I wish I knew who was doing the asking, but I'll still give you an answer. The saying goes "one man's trash is another man's treasure" and that is the case for some organisms at the vents. As you already guessed, chemicals that are toxic to many surface-dwelling animals are not, in fact, toxic to some vent organisms. For example, hydrogen sulfide is a nasty-smelling acidic compound that would make breathing difficult for most of us land-lubbers. For many of the bacteria at the vents, however, this is a primary food source (at least, in a manner of speaking). For some animals, though, like the Pompeii worm, these compounds are toxic and the animal must find a way to get rid of them. What we have found in the case of the Pompeii worm is that the concentration of toxic materials (like sulfide) is much lower inside its body than in the water surrounding it. So the hypothesis is that there must be some mechanism for the worm to remove those toxins from its body. We don't actually know the mechanism at this point (surprise!). Some people think that the bacterial "fleece" on the worms back helps create a protective envelope of reduced sulfide around the worm. But this is one of those cutting edge problems where we are riding on the cusp of our own ignorance. With time and persistence, we'll find out. Thanks for your excellent questions! -- Kurt

Dear Julie, did somebody tip you off? Actually we didn't have any big problems with Alvin, but we did have some problems with the A frame. In order to put Alvin into (and to take it out of) the water requires a large hydraulically-powered lift called an A frame. (It's a big metal frame shaped like an "A" How about that!) Anyway, Alvin weighs in at about 17 tons so that's a lot of stress on the A frame. As we were lowering Alvin into the water on our very first dive day, the hydraulic pressure went too high and some hoses blew out. Gavin, one of the Deep Sea Operation Group members who works on Alvin, got sprayed with hydraulic fluid. Yuck!). We were delayed for about 2 1/2 hours, but we did finally get Alvin into the water and accomplished a short dive. Since then, things have been running flawlessly so far. Keep your fingers crossed! -- Kurt

Hi there, Thomas! Wow, you're really jumping the gun on this one. We haven't actually done any chimney extractions yet (because we haven't gotten any chimney pieces to work on). BUT, attempting to extract viruses from chimney pieces IS in the dive plan! So, once we get some chimney material, we'll try the extraction and see what we get. I have no idea of how many viruses might be there relative to how many are free-floating in the water...that's why we're going to try it! Thanks for your interest. -- Kurt

Hi Jasmin! Well, now, I guess when it comes to going on a cruise like this, there is some consideration to be given regarding age. But there's no age limit on having curiosity and investigating your world. I think that conducting scientific research is more an attitude or a state of mind than something you actually DO. It's like this: if you want to learn more, find out the answers to your questions, solve problems, you have to be passionate about it. You have to be completely into it, motivated by your own curiosity. If you want to find out for yourself, you will: by asking other people, reading books and journals, and by investigating the situation for yourself. There's only one catch: you can't be afraid to admit that you don't know all the answers. So, if you can satisfy all those requirements, you can start on the path TODAY! Talk to people. Don't be afraid; if there's something you want to know, ask. If nobody can tell you, maybe you can find out for yourself. That's how I got to be here on this ship right now! Good luck, Jasmin. -- Kurt

Dear Mike, that's an interesting question. For the most part, we eat regularly. The ship has a large kitchen and provides cafeteria-style meals 3 times a day. There's always leftovers, cereal, fruit, sandwich makings, snacks, juice, coffee, milk, and other things available 24 hours a day, since everyone on the ship keeps different schedules. The ship operations crew runs 4 hours on watch, 4 hours off, so a crew is always on watch, 24 hours a day. Depending on the demands of your work, as a scientist, you can pretty much keep to a 12-hour work day. But to get back to your question, the galley provides all kinds of food just like you'd have on land: salad, fruit, pasta, meat, you name it. The rumor is that scientists gain an average of 8 lbs on this cruise (because they eat so well, and it's hard to get enough exercise on the ship)! We'll see if this happens to me. -- Kurt

Say, don't you think that's kinda...personal? Especially since you didn't identify yourself?? :) Well, I'll give it a shot. I have a beautiful wife back in Newark DE (Hi Beth!). We were married in June, which isn't so long ago. She wrote me some letters to open during the cruise and I have some pictures of her. I treasure her letters as a drowning man treasures air. I miss her very much. I am also close to my parents and younger brother; I usually see them at least once a week, and I miss them as well. I've been meeting up with some friends of mine on Sunday nights, every Sunday, for about 4 years. Now I miss out on about a month of hanging out. I miss seeing trees, and I miss the change of colors in the fall. Of course, this is nothing compared to some of the crew members on the ship. They can be at sea for up to four months at a time without seeing their families, their wives and husbands, their children. So I know I don't have it as bad as some, but it's still hard. On the positive side, I have also gained new friends that I would otherwise never have met. When it's all over and I get back home, I'll have a lot of stories, some new email addresses, and maybe some new places to crash next time I go abroad. This cruise is a great experience, but it's got both good and bad things to consider. -- Kurt

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Oh, Samantha, there's no fooling you. Right to the heart of the matter: how much do I get paid? Well, I hope I don't drive you away, but academic science isn't the most lucrative career in the world. As a graduate student, I make about $1100 a month...not much, but enough to live. Of course, as you climb up the corporate ladder, your pay rate increases: post doctoral fellows make a little more, assistant professors make more, tenured professors make more still. Now, if you want to get into private research or even government research, you stand to make more moolah, but it's a different work environment. You get less of a choice in what you do, and you tend to do more repetitive tasks....this is all in general, there's no hard and fast rules. So, it all depends on what you want. I think that the most important thing is that you choose a field that makes you happy, because you have to go to work at least 5 days a week. And remember the wise words of the Beatles: money can't buy you love. -- Kurt

(a) Hi Tom. Well, I can't make any guarantees about not catching anything from deep sea viruses, but let's say that your chances are pretty small. Viruses tend to be highly specific to their hosts: humans get viral infections that do not hurt cats, cats get viral infections that do not affect humans. (one exception is the influenza virus...look it up!) By and large, the viruses we are collecting from the vents are bacterial viruses, which pose no danger to humans, only bacteria need worry. However, we are still very careful with our procedures (wear gloves, etc.). It doesn't pay to take chances. Thanks for your question.

(b) Hello Jason, excellent question. In science, most of us are hesitant to use words like "always" or "never" because there's usually an exception to the rule (but not always!). So, I can not say that all marine organisms have viruses, but it is highly likely. I know that everywhere bacteria have been found, bacterial viruses have also been found...I am not as certain about higher organisms. But, I think that it is very likely that viruses exist which infect most organisms.

(c) Hi there, Ken. For simplicity, I'm speaking of bacterial viruses, also known as phage. The cycle of infection works like this: the virus particle bumps into the host (a bacteria cell) and attaches to a specific recognition site (this is usually a protein on the surface of the bacteria). Then the virus either physically pokes through or enzymatically dissolves the cell wall and membrane. The viral genetic material (could be DNA or RNA) is injected into the host cell. At this point, two possibilities exist: the lytic cycle or the lysogenic cycle. Following the lytic cycle, the viral genetic material takes over control of the cellular machinery. The host DNA is destroyed. The viral genetic material is copied many times over, and new virus particles (capsids, tails) are produced, all using the host's machinery and raw materials. The viruses are put together like cars on a big assembly line. At some point, the host cell lyses (bursts) and the new virus particles emerge, ready to infect new host cells. Following the lysogenic cycle, the viral genetic material is incorporated into the bacterial chromosome. That's right, it becomes part of the bacterial genome. In this state, the virus is called a "prophage." Each time the bacteria cell divides and replicates its DNA, the viral DNA is ALSO replicated. At some point, however, an environmental signal (for example, UV damage to the host DNA) causes the prophage to excise itself from the host chromosome (abandon the sinking ship, as it were) and the lytic cycle picks back up. Of course, this doesn't answer everything, but I hope it's a start!

(d) What a great bunch of questions (and ones I can answer without having to consult outside sources!). Well, Pete, there's no clear answer to that one. The bleaching of coral on such a large scale is an enigma. It may be from viruses, it may be from pollution, it may be from slight increases in ocean temperature, or it may be a combination of factors. I'm afraid that we really just don't know enough about that situation to draw a definitive conclusion yet. But it IS a good question.

Thanks for your questions! -- Kurt

Hi there, M.S. Does that stand for "Master of Science"? Well, someone asked that first question before. I think that the most rewarding part about being under the sea is simply being there: being in a place where few have been before and seeing all the wonders first-hand. As for going to the bathroom, there are bottles if you have to do "number one." As for "number two"....let's just say you really want to take care of that either before or after the dive. There is a garbage bag just in case, but in case of a number two emergency, the sub generally surfaces. Keep in mind that the air is recycled in the sub: the CO2 is scrubbed out, but smells will be with you for the dive duration. Fun stuff! -- Kurt

Hi, Seth--great question! So, the organisms at the bottom are adapted to living under great pressure. They usually have a high internal pressure to balance the pressure coming from outside....so when we bring them to the surface where the outside pressure is much lower, wouldn't they, you know, EXPLODE?!? Some actually do. Not in a overly showy way, more in an unsatisfying, leaky way. Sometimes fish will have eyes pop out, sometimes crabs will have their innards leaking out. But, a surprising number of creatures DO survive the ordeal and arrive at the surface alive and intact. We have several crabs in a tank which have survived a few days at the surface so far. I don't know why some explode and some don't. It may have to do with the time taken to reach the surface, or it may have to do with specific organisms. Maybe a topic of future (somewhat gross) research? -- Kurt

Hi Margaret. Well, I mentioned a little in a previous question about the A frame. A big hydraulically powered winch lifts up Alvin, brings it out over the water, and lowers it into the water on a rope that's bigger around than my head! Two swimmers ride on the outside to do final checks before the sub dives. It's pretty exciting to watch; I hope they've posted some pics or video of it on the web-site! -- Kurt

Hi Caleigh. Most dives last about 8 hours. It's like a typical work day! We usually have the sub in the water by 8:00 am and back on deck at 5:00 pm. From what I hear, 8 hours in enough time to be spent in the small sphere where the scientists sit. Thanks for your question! -- Kurt

Hi there, Criss. A great question! There are essentially two types of submersibles: ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) and manned subs. Alvin is a manned sub, so the pilot sits inside the sphere with the observing scientists. The control is basically a joystick which feeds into a set of thrusters that control speed and altitude. The manipulator arms are also controlled by highly sensitive joysticks and can make very fine movements. So, keep playing those video games and bone up on that hand-eye coordination if you want to be a pilot! -- Kurt

Hello Chance. Yes, I have actually been on a few boats before, although this is my first time at sea. The University of Delaware College of Marine Studies runs a boat called the Cape Henlopen. I've been on several week-long cruises in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays on that vessel. I've also been out in small work-boat vessels powered by outboard motors for brief stints. But, this is my first time of a ship this size and in the open ocean. It's fun! -- Kurt

Hi there, Kristi. Quite an insightful question...to get on with an answer: yes. Most of us have family, friends, pets, loved ones back home, and we can only communicate by email and phone (at about $2.50 a minute!). So it is hard. You get lonely. Some days are harder to deal with than others, but we're here for the duration, so you have to keep on the positive. The crew has it worse than us, though. Many of the ship's crew will be out to sea far longer than the scientists, before they get leave to go home to their families. So, I guess the moral of the story is that deep sea research is very rewarding, but not without its price. Thanks for asking. -- Kurt

Hi Hayley! Is life in Sugar Land pretty sweet? I guess you must have to brush a lot to avoid cavities. Anyway, to answer your questions, of course we'll be sharing our findings with the rest of the world! We'll still need to do much more work once we get off the ship, but all new findings make their way into journals, newspapers, textbooks and other media outlets where everyone else can share in the discovery.

Life at sea takes some getting used to. I haven't gotten sick, but a few people have. Eventually, you adjust. Although I must say that I DO get tired of the constant motion. Walking in a straight line is a challenge, and carrying heavy objects is especially fun. Pouring liquids can also have hilarious results. I've never been at sea this long (longest I've been out before is about a week) so I have no doubt that being back on a flat surface that does not periodically undulate will take some readjusting. I have heard that some people even get "land sick." I hope I won't be one of them. I'll just have to wait until we get off the ship to find out.

By the way, HI MRS. TRUONG! I hope this answers it for you. -- Kurt

Dear Claire, the sphere where the crew of Alvin sits is sealed at one atmosphere of pressure (the same conditions you have on the earth's surface. This pressure is maintained at all times on every dive, so you don't experience any change in pressure inside the sub. It feels quite peaceful to be in the deep ocean. I think that most observers are filled with a quiet sense of wonder at just being there.

Thanks for your question.

Hi Kramer. Wow, are you a wacky guy like Kramer from Seinfeld? I'll bet you are! Anyway, what a spectacular question: Why? Why do it? What's the big deal? Probably in some sense, one answer is: because we can. Getting to the bottom of the ocean and back while still alive and intact is no small feat! But there's more to it than simply challenging Nature. The vent environment is extremely hostile: superheated jets of fluid full of toxic chemicals spew into seawater that is a mere 2°C. 250 atmospheres of pressure bears down on everything at all times. There is no light. No photosynthesis. No plants. No Walmarts. Yet there is life! How does this life manage to exist despite all these hazards? How did it get here? What is is doing? By finding out the answers to these questions, we stand to gain much information about how life as we know it came to be. By understanding more about how life functions is this harsh environment, we gain more insight how our amazing world works. As humans, we're curious. We have big brains. We want to know about everything we see. Exploring the vents helps us fulfill those very basic drives. Based on the new information you're no doubt receiving, why do you think this project is important? -- Kurt

Hi Taylor. Well, we get all the same foods you would get back at home. The ship is quite well stocked. There are giant store rooms and refrigerators and freezers below deck...it's like a miniature grocery store. So, we have supplies to eat well for the duration of this cruise, no worries there. The galley works like a cafeteria: the cooks make a few dishes at each meal and you take what you want. There's always leftovers, cereal, sandwich supplies, drinks, snacks, etc. available so you can still eat even if you have a weird schedule. And it is pretty hot. When the sun is beating on you, it's somewhere in the 90s (Fahrenheit). On cloudy days, it's very comfortable (high 70s, low 80s) We get quite a bit of rain due to our location, as well. But it's warm and actually pretty fun to be outside when it rains. -- Kurt

No, not until NOW!!! Thanks a lot, Elizabeth. Actually, no. I haven't been down in the sub yet, so I may be a little more nervous about that, but on the ship I have no worries. I suppose that it only takes one freak accident to ruin your day, but really, these guys are so professional and have done this so many times I feel very comfortable in their hands. All the same, you bring up a very real concern. There's always an element of danger. Thanks for your question! -- Kurt

Hello Mia. Well, that's sort of a tough question since I really come from the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at University of Delaware. The short version goes like this: I began my Ph.D work on the ecology of bacteriophage in soils. Then Dr. Eric Wommack became a faculty member at UD. His Ph.D work was on virus ecology in marine environments. Naturally, I had a lot of questions and he has been extremely helpful in advancing my research. I am increasing his knowledge and interest in soils and he has been increasing my knowledge and interest in marine environments. So, the marine studies thing is still relatively new to me, but I am enjoying it immensely. Thanks for your interest! -- Kurt

Hi Katie! Nope, the tubeworm isn't related to the coral, although I can see how you would think so. The tube that the worm lives in resembles a coral, but is actually inanimate -- it's just kind of a hard shell that the worm forms around itself to protect itself from predators such as crabs. If you take the worm out of its tube (which is very easy to cut open with scissors -- it's thinner than cardboard!), it just looks like a worm. The rest of the body is the same color as the plume, which is what you see sticking out of the tube, but the part inside the tube looks just like a worm. Thanks for asking! -- Kurt

Hi Tyler! Actually, were doing all of the above. Some members of the science team are interested in the biology of the vents (organisms), some are interested in the geology and chemistry of the vents themselves (the ocean floor), and some are interested in the interface between the organisms and the vents where they live (biogeochemistry...that word is fun to drop on people at parties. "What do you do?" "I'm a biogeochemist."). We do it all! -- Kurt

Hi there Ryan. More interested in the human side of things, eh? Well, the hurricane wasn't too bad. Actually I thought it was kind of fun. The ship was really rocking about on the ocean swells. We diverted our course west of the storm, but the winds and swells were still appreciable. Personally, I did not get sick. And I haven't taken any anti-seasickness medication (because I'm hard-core). But a few people have, and it happens. Some people are just more sensitive to this sort of thing. But if you do get sick, no one makes fun of you for it. You just try to get on with things and it eventually passes. Thanks for your questions. -- Kurt

So far, we haven't really run into anything new. We see a HUGE number of different types of worms out here, and we have an invertebrate biologist (Kevin Fielman) who will take them back to the lab to identify them. maybe we will find that one or two of them are new species (which would be exciting!), but they look very similar to worms that we've seen on past cruises. the neat thing is that there are a lot of new species down there, that we haven't been able to sample yet because the Alvin manipulator is hard to grab things with. we have to hope that we will be able to find new organisms within the samples that we retrieve (stuck to a Riftia tube, for instance). so as the numbers of samples increases, our chances to find something new increases. we'll cross our fingers! -- Kurt

Dear Jamilah,
Oh yes it gets cold! At the surface, the ocean temp is a balmy 27°C (about 78°F). By the time you get to the bottom, it's a frigid 2°C (about 38° F). So, it definitely gets colder, the deeper you go. The temperature change inside the sub is delayed, but by the end of an 8-hour dive, it drops from 30°C (almost 90°F) to about 17°C (about 52°F). So bring a sweatshirt!

Hey there, Donald. In a word: my advisor. Just kidding! Although there is some truth to that. One of my academic advisors, Dr. Eric Wommack, is expecting a baby any day now. Well, he's expecting his WIFE to have it any day now. It's his first child (congratulations Jo and Eric!), so of course he didn't want to miss it. So, here I am, with my partner, Bekki Helton, carrying out the work for our lab group. Now, I don't want to make it sound like I was forced against my will: I was psyched to go! But things might have turned out differently if somebody wasn't going to be a daddy. It just goes to show: you never know when opportunity will knock--but you'd better open the door when it does!

Hey Mac, I like your name. Yes, I think we will definitely want to examine more than one sea creature. Being a scientist, pretty much everything at the hydrothermal vents interests me. The way of life there is so much different than any other ecosystem on the planet, and the organisms have found a wide variety of ways to deal with it. I think that the tubeworm is pretty neat. It lives by transporting nutrients to bacteria that grow inside it, and in turn, the bacteria give the worm the food it needs to grow. The worm doesn't even have a mouth or eyes! It doesn't need eyes because it's so dark at the seafloor, and it doesn't need a mouth because it gets its food from the bacteria inside its gut. It's like if you could imagine having a living garden inside your stomach, and you could somehow get light and water to it, then you wouldn't need to eat, because you could get your nutrition from that garden. The focus of this year's cruise is the Pompeii worm, which is exciting also because of the huge ranges in temperature it can tolerate. It actually builds its home in some of the hottest areas of the vent fields, so it not only tolerates these temperatures, but prefers them. There are too many organisms that interest us -- I'm sure you'll learn about them all through our Web site. Thanks for your interest! Later Mac. -- Kurt

Ho, ho, you're quite a cheeky little devil, Criss. So, as you may have guessed, answering all these questions (I have about 114 to get through) takes a lot of time. Especially because I don't want to short-change anyone...being a sincere sort has its drawbacks sometimes. The simple answer is: by not sleeping. And also by sticking my partner with more work. It took me about a day to get round to answering the first batch, so there may be a delay in the postings reflected by that. Anyway, it's very rewarding to be playing "Dear Abbey" to interested budding scientists; I am honored, indeed, to have this responsibility. So, if you question-askers are patient, you'll get some sort of answer from me eventually. Thanks for asking, Criss!

O.K. Mandarin High, I can see you have a lot of questions, so I'll turn off the smart-mouth and get right to it!

(a) Alvin is powered by 2 banks of 60 batteries each. The batteries are about the size and type you'd use to power a golf cart. Each bank connected in series provides 120 V DC power to the sub. There are three emergency batteries located inside the sphere. If power is lost, the emergency batteries are used to drop the dive weights and resurface. S, in the event of a power loss, the sub can still get back up.

(b) This is a good question...and one which I'm not sur of the answer. TO my knowledge, no anthropogenic (man-made) pollutants have been detected. Unless you count the discarded dive weights, markers, transponders, and gag items left behind by previous divers (like a piece of plywood cut-out and painted to look like a man, known as "Dave"). I don't think anyone has tested extensively for pollutants at the vents, so this may be a great topic for future research!

(c) They have been seen, although I could not confirm whether they've been seen in this area. The one diver I spoke with said that seven gilled sharks had been seen at a dive site in Bermuda. Usually, the divers are not trying to attract sharks, though, so I get the impression that the sightings are a rare occurrence.

(d) Yes! Although it's sometimes hard to see through the inky blackness. Many deep sea fish have bioluminescent (it's such a great word!) barbels that they use as lures for prey or mates. Some squid are bioluminescent, as well as some smaller organisms (like shrimp) which often appear as glowing dots.

(e) As a chimney begins, anhydrite and calcium sulfite precipitate out of the water first. So, a younger chimney would be composed primarily of these minerals. As stuff continues to precipitate out of the hot vent fluid, these initial chimneys provide surfaces for pyrite and chalcopyrite to precipitate at slightly cooler temperatures. So, to answer your next question as well, older chimneys have a crunchy pyrite outer layer with an ooey-gooey (not really) calcium sulfite center.

(f) I tried to answer that one above. I hope I have satisfied your curiosity for the time being.

Great questions gang! -- Kurt

Dear Megan,
First of all, thanks for your praise. It's good to be appreciated! Well, problems and fears are very natural things to be curious about. I mean, there's a LOT that could go wrong, and at the bottom of the ocean, you definitely don't want to be taking any chances! But I can assure you that the people who look after Alvin (the Deep Sea Operations Group) are very good at what they do. We are in very capable hands on this expedition. Even so, there are still accidents, things beyond your control...probably the scariest part is when you're being lifted off the deck of the ship and into the water, or out of the water and onto the deck. We have had some mechanical problems with the A frame (the big winch that lifts Alvin) already. But the thought of being in a sphere at the bottom of the ocean really doesn't frighten me that much. I think the danger is worth the opportunity to see these wonders few have seen first-hand. To be totally honest, though, the scariest part of this whole journey has been the flight to San Diego. We had some awful turbulence!

We need to make sure we don't find out the answer to your question the hard way! Thanks for asking. -- Kurt

Being a biologist, pretty much everything at the hydrothermal vents interests me. The way of life there is so much different than any other ecosystem on the planet, and the organisms have found a wide variety of ways to deal with it. I used to study riftia, which is that huge tubeworm. It lives by transporting nutrients to bacteria that grow inside it, and in turn, the bacteria give the worm the food it needs to grow. The worm doesn't even have a mouth or eyes! It doesn't need eyes because it's so dark at the seafloor, and it doesn't need a mouth because it gets its food from the bacteria inside its gut. It's like if you could imagine having a living garden inside your stomach, and you could somehow get light and water to it, then you wouldn't need to eat, because you could get your nutrition from that garden. There's still a lot of things we don't know about this worm though: for instance, how it gets nutrients from its symbiotic bacteria. Do its tissues just consume the bacteria, or do the bacteria mostly transport the nutrients to the worm? Riftia are neat to see from alvin -- they grow all over the vent field, like weeds! They're really pretty, too. Now I study the Pompeii worm, which is exciting also because of the huge ranges in temperature it can tolerate. It actually builds its home in some of the hottest areas of the vent fields, so it not only tolerates these temperatures, but prefers them. Things we still don't know about this worm include how it tolerates the toxic metals found in its environment, and how it can function at such different temperatures. There are too many organisms that interest us -- I'm sure you'll learn about them all through our Web site. Joshua, thanks for your interest!

Hey Dad! Wow, I can't believe that I am getting questions coming through from my dear family! It's so exciting to be able to share this with you...and I'm glad you get to ask me a question! Well, I don't exactly know how the divers are chosen. Some days the sub actually calls different schools, so specific members of the science crew are already selected for those dive days. As for the other days, it's all a big surprise. No one knows who is going to go until the night before...which makes it very difficult to prepare anything ahead of time! I guess it's all done to avoid disappointments if we have a planned schedule and then a day gets bumped or something like that. Still, I like to be able to plan ahead. Do I think I will go?...I really don't know. The chief scientist has final say. All I can do is wait and see. When people emerge from Alvin after their first dive, they are usually pretty wide-eyed. First time divers get doused with ice water after they get out, so there's usually a lot of gasping and screaming. But seriously, everyone has been at a loss for words, so they really don't end up saying much. Thanks for sending me your question; I'm glad I could be the one to answer. Thanks for your constant support, Dad. You're still my hero. Love always, Kurt