There is much exciting wildlife below the water, as you will see below, and some beautiful pictures! Again — you might want to look on the Web for more images of some of the sea creatures the bloggers saw.

Notice that we could estimate the air pressure the climbers were experiencing on Mauna Kea. What about the pressure below the water? A rule of thumb is that the pressure increases by about one atmosphere (1013 hectoPascals or hPa) for each 10 m below the surface. While the Operation Deep Climb hikers were experiencing an air pressure of around 696 hPa at 3200 m elevation, the SNI articipants were experiencing a total pressure of:

You can feel air pressure changes if you go up or down quickly in an elevator, in airplane, or on a mountain road: your ears “pop” as pressure from the inside and outside balance. (The air inside a commercial aircraft at cruising altitude is pressurized so that the pressure is about 15% lower than at sea level — much higher of course than it is outside!)

Day 5 - 15 October 2007

Madison
SNI participant

We went to a black sand beach. The most durable minerals survived when the lava flows are eroded, they wash up on the beach, forming black sand. There were many turtles on the rocks.

Then we went to the southern-most point of the U.S. It was a cliff that dropped off into the Pacific.

Later we did our first dive in Hawaii! The first dive was in Garden Eel Cove, it was a 40 minute dive at 50 feet (15 meters). We saw a garden eel and lots of urchins. The coral was really pretty. Our second dive, a night dive, was also at Garden Eel Cove. It was an hour long and at 40 feet. We sat at the bottom in a circle, and huge manta rays came overhead. Sometimes they got really close to the top of your head. They were 15-20 feet (4.6 – 6.1 meters) across, and the baby was about 6 feet (1.8 meters). Their mouths were about a foot across (0.3 meters). The water was turbulent because the rays were disrupting it while swimming around. They came to the lights to feed on the light-attracted plankton.

Connor
SNI participant

The black sand beach was incredible! We saw many crabs, fish, and even a baby eel in one of the tide pools, and a couple of turtles resting on the beach.

We also had our first dives of the trip today, our first dive was o.k. we got to swim around and see garden eels, colorful reefs, and fish.

But, the first dive was nothing compared to the second dive, which was the most amazing dive I’ll ever go on! It was the manta ray dive, which was so awesome. We got about 10 manta rays, which is pretty good the captain said, because sometimes they don’t get any. But, it was the coolest thing ever!

This is the second installment of the SCUBAnauts blog. Go to the Web and check out the pictures of the fish that they saw (Search for “Hawaii state fish” instead of Humu… — it’s easier!).

Day 2 - 12 October 2007

Tutors Academic Institute Journals
4 students aged 12-15
SNI team participants

On our first day in Hawaii, we went to Hanauma Bay for a bit of snorkeling. Hanauma Bay is a Hawaii state park, and we watched a movie in order to learn the rules and etiquette of the park. We saw a great number of fish including the Parrot Fish; a Sea Turtle; the Hawaii state fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a; the Bird Nose Wrasse; a Long Nose Butterfly fish; and a number of urchins. This was a very interesting and educational experience.

Our next adventure of the day had to do a bit with Hawaiian culture; we participated in a luau. The luau consisted of a number of traditional Hawaiian activities such as: lei making, spear throwing, pictures with birds, trips in a canoe, traditional Polynesian tattoos.

The food wasn’t half bad either. The traditional foods served were: Kailua pork, coconut custard, and macadamia nut encrusted mahi mahi. Along with our meal, we were entertained with traditional song and dance, which included fire throwing.

Savannah - 14
Operation: Deep Climb participant [ODC]

The next day we were to go to Hanauma bay. Our expedition was postponed because the boat had problems so we all got to snorkel. This was the best news you could expect to hear when you didn’t think you would get time to do anything like that because the ODC kids should have been gone by now. Before we could actually go in the bay we had to take a class that would teach us how to take care of the reef that was there. The bay was home to many species of fish and coral and they are trying their best to keep it as well as possible. The class lasted about 60 minutes and then we were off. Taylor was of course my buddy. We had fun and explored most of the reef. The reef was beautiful and the fish were amazing. After Hanauma bay it was time for lunch. We couldn’t really go anywhere so someone brought us wraps, gummies, and raisins. I thought the food was delicious, but I didn’t have too much time to enjoy it. In the middle of lunch we were told that a local Hawaiian news reporter wants to interview the ODC kids about the mission we would be completing. All the kids went with Jen and she took us to a park where the reporter met with us and asked us questions. They were excited about what were doing and just about as excited as us.

After the interview we all took showers and got on a bus that would take us to a Hawaiian luau. The luau was so much fun. They had games, and some of us got tattoos. We ate traditional Hawaiian food which was a different kind of experience. We even got pulled up to go on stage. I got to participate in a Hawaiian fish catching ceremony. After the luau I was so tired but I couldn’t go to sleep after having all that that fun. We were forced to go to sleep to get ready for the next day.

Anna - 16
Operation: Deep Climb participant

I really enjoyed the drive across the island of Oahu, mostly because a majority of the time you were able to see the majestic mountain range to one side and the enticing coastline on the other. On the way we passed Diamond Head Crater, which was formed from a volcano that had collapsed. We arrived at Hanauma Bay and spent some time recording clouds and taking a class about the history and some rules of snorkeling in the bay. I saw an octopus, which was really exciting because I have never see one while diving.

Tonight Captain Olson told us that there was a leak on the research vessel that the rest of the Operation Deep Climb team and I were to stay on, the Ka`imikai-o-Kanaloa or KOK, and there is a possibility of us climbing the mountain first. At first I thought of telling Captain Olson that I wasn’t going to be able to do it because I wasn’t mentally prepared and I also doubted my physical capabilities. After thinking about it for a few hours now I think, I might be able to, but I’m not sure. We came back to the BOQ [Bachelor Officer’s Quarters] to go to sleep. My roommate is Sarah, well it’s time for bed, I’ll write more tomorrow.