Today I went out on Surface Support for a couple of grad students from Oregon State University who are on campus studying the Lionfish on the patch reefs. Basically Surface Support means I stay on the boat (the "Simon Says") while the students conduct their dives. I am responsible for maintaining radio contact with CEI should anything happen to the divers. If CEI radios "Simon Says, Simon Says, go to 14" I must be available to respond. Every dive boat that goes out must have surface support.
Below is a picture of the Simon Says, on which i spent my day:
We left at 9:15am and returned to campus at 4:30pm. It was surprisingly the most relaxing day! I listened to some music (mixture of 80s rock and classic Caribbean vacation music), read a book, and just enjoyed being out in the middle of the ocean. Despite the choppy waves, it was so peaceful and I would do it again in an instant!
I also had a brief opportunity to snorkel around the boat and test out the underwater casing for my camera for the first time. I took the following picture of the two grad students heading out on their second dive of the day. You can kind of see the patch reef below them that is around 50 - 60 ft from the surface.
Until next time!
Sincerely,
Your slightly-sunburnt-but-unbelievably-relaxed Field Biologist
No comments:
Post a Comment