April 4th, 2003; Leg 4, Day #1

Today's update is provided by Shana Goffredi.

Changing of the guard: Members of the new science party arrived in La Paz on April 1-2.

We had relatively uneventful flights, although many of us landed in the middle of a beautiful lighting storm.  Also, Peter Girguis tried to get what he called an "aquarium" onto the airplane. See if you think it looks like an aquarium (right). Needless to say, it raised some eyebrows, but they were eventually satisfied with his description of what it does—it keeps little worms from the bottom of the ocean alive.

We boarded the R/V Western Flyer on April 2-3 to load our gear and organize the labs.  So far, so good—but we won't know for sure until we start diving and get samples. Josh Plant and Peter Girguis continue to spend most of their time working on the ISAS (In Situ Analytical Sampler). ISAS will measure sulfide levels in situ on the seafloor.  Many of the animals we're interested in studying need sulfide for survival—more on that during later updates.

Bob Vrijenhoek and Luis Soto in discussions as leg 4 of the Expedition gets underway.

Scientists and crew in the ROV shop on the R/V Western Flyer.