Being Chief Scientist is like running a three or even four-ring circus. Even with the greatest science party in the world, which I think I had, if every individual only asks one question every 3 hours in a standard 16 hour day (0700 to 2300 hours), that is over 90 questions to answer, just from the science party. Add in general small talk, discussions of the day's dive, chats with the Alvin group, captain and crew, discussions about the next day's dive (discussions of options and alternatives are very important for making the right calls), and the fact that we were doing science 24 hours a day, and there is clearly very little time for solitary contemplation of the cruise and its many achievements. Fortunately, my risk-taking strategy had significant pay-offs: Stauromedusae, fresh lava flows, unexpectedly large sulfide deposits and biological collections that will keep us all busy for months to come.

By the last dive, these successes had given me the option of either giving one of the new-to-Alvin members of my very special science party a second dive (everyone having had one all ready), or of making a dive seat available to a crew member. The ship's crew are the unsung heroes of any research cruise, they keep the ship running, usually from the background, keep scientists out of harm's way and do what needs to be done without a lot of hoopla. Because I knew that I could ask Stephane Hourdez to be senior science observer on this dive to ensure science objectives were accomplished, I decided to offer a dive to a crew member, and with the captain's help made it a lottery.

The captain listed the names of the WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - who operate the ATLANTIS and Alvin for the US Navy) employees who hadn't ever had a dive and I picked one out of a bin. I picked George Silva's name - Chief Mate on the ATLANTIS, with whom I had sailed when he served as the ship's captain. George had worked for WHOI for eight years, about half on the ATLANTIS, but he had never even been inside Alvin. When he sailed as captain, George of course had been ineligible for a dive, as captains really aren't supposed to leave their ships in the middle of a cruise. Although in a given year there can be one or two crew lotteries for dive seats, he just hadn't been lucky. He told me that when his wife, a school teacher, invites him to her classroom to talk to her students, he would dread having to admit that though he's lived with Alvin for years, he had no idea of what it is like on the inside or of what it is like to dive. He was thrilled to know that when he goes home this time (sometime in January based on his work schedule) he'll be able to talk about His Dive to a glorious area, dense with Tube Worms.

George stood his regular watch on the bridge that morning from 4 to 8, then he climbed into the sub with Stephane and Expedition Leader Pat Hickey for his long-anticipated dive. At the end of the dive, he was showered with buckets of ice-water, traditionally tossed to celebrate a successful first dive and members of the crew gave him a warmer welcome - a slurry of condiments with the characteristic color of mustard and green relish dumped on his head. Then, after a shower, he went to the bridge to stand watch from 4 to 8 PM (1600 to 2000 hr).