Log 10

Saturday February 4, 2006

**Davidson Farewell**

We are in the final dives of our cruise and readying for our return to
port. It's been a productive and successful expedition and we hope
you've enjoyed following along with us. Thank you for your questions!

One group you haven't heard much about in these logs is the crew of the
Western Flyer. It's amazing how so few of them (10 ship's crew, 5 ROV
pilots) keep everything running so smoothly. They have moved the ship
everywhere that we needed, made sure our emails went out, deployed and
retrieved current meters, fed us like royalty, and kept everything in
proverbial ship-shape. The crew also took an active interest in our
research and were great company. Thank you to Relief Captain Darrell
Palmer and crew!

To wrap up our journey to Davidson Seamount, we asked all of the
Explorers the following question: "What has been your most memorable
event or discovery during the cruise? \" Here are the replies.

I have two most memorable moments; the first was being escorted out to
the Davidson "Seamount on Day 1 by Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dall's
porpoises, and Northern right whale dolphins. The second was seeing the
red lobate comb jelly Lampocteis on Day 4. (Figure 1) It was one of the
most beautiful organisms I have ever seen.  Its bizarre form, and
remarkable color and motion proved that truth is stranger that
fiction." - Huff McGonagall, MBNMS

"My most memorable observation, was the small field (approximately 20)
of the stalked tunicate (Culeolus sp.). Figure 2. I had never seen these
before, and they were amazingly large (size of a large orange). The
profile looked like a small dog\'s head." --Erica Burton, MBNMS

"There have been so many great discoveries on this cruise, it\'s really
hard to pinpoint any one. I\'m fascinated by how different each dive is.
We start thinking that we can predict what we\'ll see on any given dive
and are completely surprised when we find a totally different group of
organisms than we had expected to find. I\'m also thrilled by the unique
biology that we collected. Today\'s unusual coral was a great find. In
the several hundred hours worth of time spent looking at seamounts I
have never seen the coral that we collected today. It was also exciting
to see the Culeolus tunicates and the rest of the diversity that we saw
on \"Big Easy.\" And how about that midwater octopus? (Figure 3) This
cruise has been one of my favorites. Davidson Seamount is such an
amazing place! It\'s also been great to work with everyone so closely.
Cruises like this allow us to get to know each other just a bit better
than during the usual 9-5 day."- Lonny Lundsten, MBARI

"Exploring Davidson Seamount from the deepest valleys to the very tip of
mountain peaks was incredible. All places were filled with strange forms
of life that ranged from smaller than your can see with the naked eye to
the grandeurs of coral and sponge gardens. I am excited about collecting
and photographing corals and the opportunity to provide answers to
questions about age and growth." --Allen Andrews, MLML

"The first images of large stands of bubblegum coral forests emerging
from the black ink of the depths, in lifelike high definition, will
stand as my fondest memory of this cruise. It is hard to imagine such
complex and visually stunning biological communities living in the harsh
conditions of this sunless world." -Chad King, MBNMS

"Just being a part of this cruise, after so much planning, has been a
highlight. I enjoyed seeing how the work all comes together in the labs,
in the moonpool, in the control room, on the bridge, in the galley. The
swimming crinoids (Figure 4), stalked tunicates, brooding octopus,
Picasso sponges, and of course the huge Bubblegum corals, were the
visual high points." --Lisa Borok, MBARI

"The best moment for me was my first sighting of the Davidson Seamount
summit, covered in huge and colourful corals and sponges. We\'d heard
such great things about this location, but sometimes the reality
doesn\'t quite live up to expectations and it was a great excitement
(and relief) to see that this was going to be a visual feast for the
camera!" --Penny Allen, BBC

"I find the very distinct distribution patterns of some of the corals on
Davidson Seamount to be amazing. Paragorgia, in particular, tends to
inhabit only the steepest slopes and shallowest peaks of the seamount.
(Figure 5) I am intrigued by the possible factors that might limit its
success to these microenvironments. Several factors, from the ability of
larvae to settle and grow to stages invulnerable to common predators, to
the effects of current patterns on feeding success, survival, and
reproduction by adults, may each play a role. It is a thrill to view
these animals over the dramatic subsea landscape of the seamount and
ponder the dynamic processes that shape these coral gardens." --Jim
Barry, MBARI

"Especially memorable to me are large sponges and tunicates with most of
their bodies on the tip of long, thin stalks. The shapes look almost
ridiculous, yet beautiful and are perfectly arranged to reach higher in
the water column for the relatively scarce bits of food. I doubt anyone
would even think of these shapes if they were presented with an
opportunity to design an animal." --Andrew DeVogelaere, MBNMS

"My most memorable event was seeing a ctenophore at 500 meters depth lit
up on a high definition screen in the Tiburon control room. The
colourful, pulsing iridescence of the ctene rows on this beautiful
creature is nothing less than stunning. For me, this is what HD is all
about. To borrow a quote from our illustrious series producer, this is
'quite literally the first time this remarkable behaviour has ever been
filmed' (by me, anyway).

My best discovery of the cruise was without doubt the stash of Wonka
bars in the cupboard under the microwave." --Warwick Sloss, BBC