We are moving off station.

The last dive for ROPOS on this cruise came to an end yesterday afternoon. The primary objectives were to look at the biology on the stump of Gwenen, the third structure to be recovered, (it is quickly being colonized); to collect some samples; and to survey Finn, the black smoker, just days after its recovery with an eye toward placing a new instrument, the stump monitor, on the site. Looking like an instrument of torture from a science fiction film, the stump monitor is a series of thermo-couples, staggered at different heights and at different angles. Out of the bottom, come three shining spikes to anchor it to the structure. With a series of batteries, the stump monitor will collect temperature data over time and by inference will yield information about the growth and regeneration of the structure. The instrument was designed specifically for Finn, with hours of effort put into the analysis of still video pictures to extract information about the dimensions and geometry of the stump. On this last dive, we came upon Finn and discovered a large and magnificent beehive, a fragile, brittle structure of sulfide, which seems to be an early stage in the growth of the chimneys. The beehive was a magnificent form, some 1 to 2 meters in height, but, alas, to prepare the site for the stump monitor, ROPOS wielded a titanium bar and chisel, smashed the beehive, and cleared the debris from the stump.

The stump monitor sits on the fantail, strapped down like everything else on the ship. Once again, the weather has spoken. First one low and then another. The wind, the rain, the swells. Suddenly the hallway seems narrower. Take a cup of coffee down the stairs and you turn into a human gimbel on a high wire. Every item in sight -- sulfide samples, computers, ping pong table, microscopes -- now has an intimate relationship with a bungee cord.

With the weather and the last dive has come a noticeable shift in conversation as well. The lab needs to be cleaned. Sections of the cruise report need to be completed. Who is on which plane? We have about another day and a half on the ship. We'll be in Seattle Saturday afternoon. But it is clear the party is over and it is time to go home.

And what about the stump monitor? With some quick planning and a little luck, the instrument will be on another cruise very soon and sitting atop Finn before the end of the summer.

-- Myles Gordon