November 8th, 2003 - Rabaul to Ambitle Island

The group (Jan Amend, D'Arcy Meyer, Jim Garey, Dave Karlen, Pam Hallock Muller, Bryan McCloskey, and Roy Price arrived in Rabaul and met up with Thomas Pichler on the Star Dancer. We were greeted with the bad news that neither the Fisher order nor the Hatch order had arrived. It was agreed that Jim Garey and David Karlen should stay behind and await the orders, as the chemicals in the Fisher order are imperative to their research.

To a backdrop of Tavurvur (the currently active volcano that buried Rabaul in ash in 1994) regularly belching smoke and ash, we departed at roughly 1700 for the 22 hour run to Tutum Bay. As we passed nearest to the volcano, we encountered a "slick" of volcanic tuff. After we were well away, the crew washed down the ship to get rid of the veneer of ash that had accumulated on everything.

 

November 9th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

We arrived in Tutum Bay and were in the water before 0900. Thomas and Roy went directly to check the vents; the rest were checking gear, buoyancy, and got our first views of the benthic communities and the bubbling bottom. Then after a surface interval that included a briefing on the site, Thomas led the group on a tour of the vents. The first data came in after lunch, when Price and McCloskey set up Transect A, running for 22 meters WNW of Vent 4 at a heading of 285deg. When the transect was established, a profile of sediment temperatures at a depth of approximately 10cm was constructed. Spirits were high with the acquisition of the first data of the trip.

After dinner, Thomas led the group to visit the village in Nanum Bay. We were greeted by Thomas’s friend Philip, the chief of the village (and owner of a third of Ambitle Island), and were surprised to find him wearing a USF t-shirt! After meeting the friendly villagers and touring some of the homes, we proceeded in search of a hydrothermally-fed river north of the village. After a longer-than-expected hike uphill through the jungle, we found the river and had a well-deserved dip. Thomas and Jan explored upstream in search of the hydrothermal source. It was dark by the time we hiked back out, and we were all pleasantly surprised to see some bioluminescent mushrooms along the side of the trail.

 

November 10th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

The first dive of the morning took place at 0835 when Bryan completed the temperature profile of Transect A (which had been extended to 31 meters by Jan and Thomas). We tested our coring techniques. Jan and Roy discovered that our core tubes cannot withstand the subsurface temperature near the vent, as several attempts come up with the lower-end twisted. We successfully collected two cores.

Despite a successful day of sampling, the highlight of the day was the swarming of Palolo worms (errant polychates). Patrick, the engineer showed us that the large green ones disintegrate when you try to pick them up with a net, while the smaller cream-colored ones hold together. We figured out that the green ones are females, verifying our hypothesis under the dissecting microscope. Bryan also caught a red polychaete and we watched its hearts beat, pumping its haemolymph through its swegmements.

Jan and D’Arcy used the first 'real' core sample to inoculate five different growth media with sediment slurries and started incubating growth tubes at 80 degrees in the water bath set up in the dining room on the Lido Deck. D’Arcy also prepared samples for DNA extractions and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH).

 

November 11th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

Communication via satellite phone with Jim and David in the morning brought bad news, i.e., no news about the whereabouts of our desperately needed research equipment.

Nevertheless our project is still on track. Many cores and samples were taken today. Roy and Jan were very productive with the coring equipment, collecting half a dozen cores. Pam and Bryan collected surface sediment and scrubbed rubble samples from six sites along Transect A, which they will examine for forams. D’Arcy spent most of the day extracting DNA from core subsamples. Thomas succeeded in getting the underwater pH meter working and collected data for Transect A.

As the sun was setting, Thomas led Roy and Patrick on a night dive in search of sharks. Reports of bioluminescence at depth, and a cruising reef shark. Also, some stragler Palolo worms showed up a day late, wondering where the party was.

 

November 12th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

This morning Thomas again communicated with Jim and Dave in Rabaul, and the gear is expected to arrive in Port Moresby tonight and hopefully in Rabaul tomorrow night. When (or if!) it arrives, we will take the Star Dancer back to Rabaul to pick up Jim, Dave and the equipment. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Despite the missing equipment, today was a successful sampling day, seeing the continuance of sediment coring, both of Transect A near vent 4 to completion, and of the newly established Transect B which extends out to approximately 250 meters from Vent 4.

As is the case with fieldwork in a remote place, problems arise that require a lot of creativity and ingenuity. For example, when attempting to take sediment core close to Vent 4 the high temperature melted the plastic core tube liner inside of the metal corer. As a result, the core liner was stuck, and we could not get it out. We finally were able to separate the plastic core-liner from the coring devise by diving down to a vent that was discharging very hot water and setting the corer over the vent to re-melt the liner. After letting it sit for about 20 minutes, we were finally able to pull it out of the corer.

We also had our first success in culturing today. One growth tube consisting of marine media supplemented with yeast extract, peptone, and elemental sulfur (nitrogen headspace) was inoculated with a sediment sample (vent 4) and incubated at 80 degrees Celsius. This morning the tube appeared turbid, suggesting significant thermophilic growth.

On the lighter side, Darcy saw two cuttle fish (Sepia latimanus) today, while Roy and Jan saw a giant clam (Tridacna gigas) about 1.5 meters across!!

 

November 13th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

Awoke before five this morning to take a pleasure dive on the reef at dawn. Among the sites were a very large lobster, a black-tipped reef shark, and a sea turtle. After breakfast, Jan and Roy took three cores from newly-established "Transect" C (a cluster of sites in the general region of vents 1 and 3). Pam and Bryan were able to collect the rest of their surface samples from Transects B and C, and started picking interesting forams under the microscope. Thomas surveyed to the south for more vent sites by "manta boarding" - being towed behind the banana boat while holding onto a wooden manta board that allows him to steer right/left and up/down. The rest of us call it "shark baiting." Nevertheless, he managed to avoid the sharks and came back with news of three more submarine hot springs.

Bad news from Jim and Dave - the supplies won't be to Rabaul until Tuesday! We've decided that we cannot wait that long for them, so we're motoring to Rabaul overnight to pick them up. Thunderstorms along the way, as well as physical exhaustion from five days of hard diving, meant an early night for everyone.

 

November 14th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

To make the best of a bad situation, we took advantage of our position and stopped at the Duke of York Island early in the morning before entering Rabaul Harbor. We used that extra time to dive the Valley of the Fans, a gorgeous reef. We saw many crinoids, a spotted eagle ray, squat lobster, large barrel sponges, a crocodile fish, bubble coral, and a shrimp goby with his shrimp. The reef was loaded with small fish, particularly butterfly fish, damselfish, anemone fish, and many others.

Once docked in the harbor Jim and Dave boarded and we refueled the Star Dancer for our trip back to Tutum Bay where we should arrive tomorrow morning. The volcano Tuvurvur was belching actively.

Pam, Bryan and D'Arcy took advantage of the stable time in port to do lab work. D'Arcy extracted DNA for hours, while Bryan and Pam picked and identified live forams, preserving them in alcohol for sequencing back home. Roy, Pam and Bryan also opened and described the four cores from the outer part of our second transect. We observed the transition from altered volcanic sands to volcanic sands with increasing amounts of shell, particularly Halimeda, molluscan shells and forams.

Bryan and Roy took a break and went into town to buy film. Jan asked them to bring him a t-shirt; Bryan returned with one that reads "Season's Greetings from Rabaul". As the Star Dancer headed out from Rabaul, Jan, Thomas, and the engineer Patrick took the dinghy on a little side trip to observe some very shallow marine hot springs at the base of Tuvurvur.

 

November 16th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

More pore water sampling. Jan and D’Arcy logged a few very long dives, but managed to collect several good profiles. Thomas and Patrick went to sample one of the newly discovered vent sites. Despite heavy swell they came back with a water, sediment and filament sample. The hydrothermal water at this location, which is approximately 2 km south, has a pH of 9, much higher than the waters in Tutum Bay.

Bryan and Pam headed out to the transects to collect water samples for pH measurements, in an effort to understand the limited amount of carbonate in the surface sediments even as much as 150 m from the vents. Coral ridges surround the vents, and one vent even has beautiful stony corals less than a meter from the vent.

Jim and Dave, despite not having their supplies arrive yet, were able to collect sediment core samples at two sites along transect IV-B. They collected five cores for macroinvertebrate analysis and fourteen smaller cores for meiofauna analysis at a distance of 60 and 150 meters from the vent.

The evening entertainment was provided by several large, orange-colored errant polychaetes; observations of the very sophisticated predatory behavior of squid; and one beautiful silver and black sea snake, all of which were swimming near the ship, apparently attracted by the lights. At Thomas’s request, one of the crew fished the snake out with a net, so that we could get a better view of it. However, after it was placed in a rinse tank, it promptly proceeded to escape and an exciting five minutes ensued trying to remove one of the world’s (probably) most venomous snakes from the deck.

It is eight thirty-five. We are up late tonight working on logs and filing photographs. We are up at six every day, so after 12 hours of diving and sample processing, we are not exactly a party crowd. Several of the scientists are already in bed and the rest of us will probably be in our bunks by nine.

 

November 17th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

This morning we took the Star Dancer to the northern part of the island in search of a reference site. Reference site, as in, no hydrothermal system anywhere near. Pam, Jim and Bryan went for a dive and decided that Picnic Island would be a good "reference site." Tomorrow morning Jim, Dave, Pamela and Bryan will take the skiff back to this site to collect biological and pore water samples. Then we made our way back to Tutum Bay and more of the usual happened:

Most of today was spent filling in gaps in the data, such as pore water sampling for the rest of Transect B, as well as collecting water directly from vent four. It is actually very difficult to collect near-boiling water from a hydrothermal vent. Not only do you have to worry about burning yourself on acidic, arsenic-rich vent water, you also have to contend with your equipment melting! To take this sample, Thomas attached a funnel to a metal crowbar, supplied by the helpful crew of the Star Dancer. He then was able to collect the water by using the crowbar as an extension. As soon as the vent water is brought to the surface, pH, ORP, and Alkalinity is measured. Subsamples are taken for arsenic speciation, and element analysis later in the lab. A sample is also taken for C and N isotope analysis.

Jim and Dave collected sediment cores at a site near vent number IV (approximately 7 meters from the vent opening). These proved very challenging to sample because of the presence of coarse volcanic rubble beneath the thin surface layer of sand-- but after much effort the cores were collected. They also collected a large bucket full (~3 gallons) of sediment 50 meters from vent IV which sieving revealed to contain a single small shrimp and a few of small polychaete tubes.

Bryan and Roy discovered a discrepancy in pH readings at two of the sample sites, so Bryan collected a series of samples perpendicular to the transect at one of the sites and documented that the differences were repeatable.

Pam examined samples collected at Picnic Island this morning and found a variety of live foraminifera with algal endosymbionts-- peneroplids with red algal symbionts, soritids with green algal symbionts, and several species with golden-brown diatom symbionts.

D'Arcy and Jan sampled pore fluids at the 150m mark along transect 4B, collected waters directly from vents 4 and 6 for DNA and organic analyses, and checked tubes for growth that had been incubating for several days in situ at vent 4. Preliminary visual assessment of the tubes indicated thermophilic growth on an arsenic-based heterotrophic medium.

Jim led Pam, D'Arcy, Jan and Bryan on a short night dive. We saw spectacular barrel sponges and a variety of fish, including a butterfly fish sleeping in one of the sponges.

Jim found a beautiful crinoid (Comanthus mirabilis), which he collected for a colleague at USF who is doing a molecular phylogeny of echinoderms. Crinoids are rare in Florida but are plentiful in Papua New Guinea. A four-foot long sea snake visited the boat shortly after the night dive.

 

November 18th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

Our trip is nearing its end, only a few days left. Jan, D'Arcy and Roy were collecting more pore-water samples to fill in missing areas in our transects A and B. For the second dive of the morning Jan and Thomas planned to sample gas at the newly discovered Vent 6 (another creative attempt at naming these features), which is approximately 300 m south of the main vent field. They had planned to do this with help of the dingy. The dingy, however, did not return from the control site until 11am; so they decided to swim to the site to burn some calories. Dragging all their equipment made the 300 m a 20 minute-trip.

Philip, a local, who is in charge of the southern area of Ambitle Island, including our research site, came for a visit and had lunch with us on the boat. After lunch we showed him the National Geographic video of Ambitle and Tutum Bay that was produced in 2000. He was quite impressed. Then he guided us on a trip into the jungle to visit the Waramung and Kapkai hot springs.

Dave, Jim, Pam and Bryan went back to the control site at Picnic Island in the dinghy early in the morning. Pam and Bryan collected forams while Jim and Dave took 23 core samples from the sediment to compare to cores taken in Tutum Bay. They also collected pore water samples from 10 and 20 cm within the sediment for Arsenic analysis to make sure there is no arsenic present. Jim and Bryan did a second dive and found some magnificent coral formations at 70-80 foot depths along the island. They also collected various invertebrate tissues for arsenic analysis to compare to Tutum bay. Most of the afternoon was spent processing the core samples and there was just time for an early evening dive, collecting invertebrate tissue samples near vent IV for arsenic analysis. At night, many of us sat on the top boat deck and could see stars for the first time on the trip. It is strange to look at a night sky and not recognize any of the constellations. Hopefully, the southern cross will appear later in the night.

 

November 19th, 2003 - Ambitle Island

Today was a truly beautiful day above the water; blue skies and a light breeze from the southwest. Under water on the other hand, conditions were far from perfect. Swell from the north stirred-up the sediment limiting the visibility. The swell also made it difficult to do work that involved being positioned at a discrete location. Jan, D'Arcy and Thomas experienced this first hand while sampling hydrothermal fluid from Vent 1. They got rocked back and forth the entire time.

Roy spent much of the day recording the pH gradients along transects A and B. At 25m out on transect A he measured a pH of 5.13 the lowest value thus recorded in the Tutum Bay. This value is actually so low that we will go back and re-measure tomorrow. The pH about 10 cm down in the sediment in Tutum Bay seems to be uniformly between 6 and 7, which is much lower than ambient seawater. This may explain the lack of carbonate sediment.

Bryan and Pam spent the day checking sample sets and diving to complete a few samples that were not previously collected because of strong currents and/or lack of air. They also collected a set of samples which tomorrow will be examined microscopically to extract live foraminifera either to preserve in alcohol for later DNA analysis or to take back live in small thermoses. The latter will be used to isolate their algal symbionts or, if they reproduce in culture, their offspring can be used in experiments.

Jim and Dave spent the morning collecting tissue samples from invertebrates near two of the larger vents for arsenic analysis. Dave collected some rubble near the vents and used a toothbrush to remove any smaller invertebrates to look at. They spent most of the day processing the samples and organizing them in preparation for leaving. The supplies supposedly left Port Moresby today and should be in Rabaul tomorrow. Jim and Dave will use some of the supplies to pack samples for shipment back to USF, but most of the supplies will be stored at the Volcano Observatory in Rabaul for the next trip to PNG.

Jan and D'Arcy dove three times today; they collected gas samples from 12 different sites, obtained one more sediment core on transect A, and placed more inoculated tubes on the "in situ" incubator (vent 4). Tomorrow will be one more dive to photograph the underwater operations and then it is time to pack everything up for the trip back to St. Louis.

It is 5:30pmand we are beginnig to steam back to Rabaul.

 

November 20th, 2003 - Rabaul Harbor

We awoke today approaching Rabaul Harbor. This was a blessing for Pam and Bryan because finishing up the live foram picking is much easier with the boat sitting quietly in the harbor, compared to the constant rocking at Ambitle Island. For Jim, Dave, Roy, Jan and Thomas most of the day was spent packing research gear and getting the samples ready for shipping.

D'Arcy extracted DNA from the last of the sediment samples. Then the preparations for the return home began. Sample identities were double checked and equipment sorted into piles of what needed to be shipped and what could go on the plane. Since there is no dry ice or liquid nitrogen available in Rabaul, getting frozen samples home is no trivial matter when the travel takes 30+ hours. Luckily, a brilliant plan for getting our frozen samples home was devised by Jan. We packed our DNA samples into small bags, filled large plastic bottles half full, added the bags and froze the bottles. When the first layer of ice had solidified, we added more water and refroze, thus suspending our samples inside blocks of ice! The proverbial fingers were then crossed!

 

November 21st, 2003 - Rabaul to Port Moresby

We were packed and ready to go to the Rabaul Airport. The shuttle vehicle was supposed to pick us up at 8 am. After nearly an hour of fretting, we finally set off for the airport at about 9. Fortunately, the plane was about equally delayed, so we were "on time." The flight to Port Moresby was uneventful. The rainy season was apparent in Port Moresby, which was much greener than when we saw it two weeks ago.

Upon reaching the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby, Jan and D'Arcy were able to sweet-talk the head chef in the kitchen to allow them to keep their samples in corners of his refrigerator and freezer overnight. Our weeks of work spent the night next to the frozen tunas.

We ended this day and also the official part of our field work with a delightful dinner at the Crowne Plaza. Tomorrow will be our last day.

 

November 22nd, 2003 - Port Moresby to Tampa/St.Louis

The highlights for today included a trip to the PNG Art Market for some last minute souvenirs, followed by lunch at the Airways Hotel, overlooking the Port Moresby Airport. This was our last meal as a group for the tip, as Thomas's plane for Sydney was midafternoon. The rest of us gathered for an airport shuttle at 4 pm, where we definitely beat the crowds checking in for Cairns. Thus, we began what seemed like a never-ending trip.

When we arrived in Cairns, there was nothing open in the airport. The very nice lady at security called down to customs and someone came up to clear part of the group to go into town for dinner. Pam and David stayed behind with the luggage, which we didn't want to take through Australian agricultural inspection, who are very sensitive about such things as handicrafts.

We left Cairns about 2 am Monday morning local time for the 4-hour flight to Guam. In Guam we had a tight connection to the nearly 8-hour Honolulu flight. Sometime during that flight we crossed the dateline and arrived in Honolulu Sunday evening just at dusk. Our brief stay in Honolulu involved getting our luggage, clearing customs where we said goodbye to Jim, who was meeting his wife for a short Hawaiian vacation. After dropping off our checked baggage for transfer, we found ourselves outside security at the Honolulu airport, with announcements that our flight for Houston was boarding. Back through security and onto the plane for another 8 hours.

 

November 23rd, 2003 - In Transit

We (minus Thomas and Jim) arrived in Houston at about 6:40 am. We said our goodbyes to Jan and Darcy, who had yet another tight connection for their flight to St. Louis. The rest of us were not so lucky. Continental had canceled our 10:52 flight to Tampa, rescheduling us to a 1:30 pm flight, even though they could have put us on a 7:50 am flight. We were told to go to a "Customer Service Desk," but to our knowledge, the Houston airport doesn't have any. After what seemed like a 3-mile hike looking for a Customer Service Desk, we found the gate where the 7:50 Tampa flight was departing, we were told that we couldn't get on because our luggage wouldn't make it. So four exhausted "zombies" nearly froze to death sitting around the Houston Airport for 6 hours waiting to go to Tampa. None of us have any memory of taking off from Houston, as we fell asleep as soon as we were in our seats. Fortunately that flight was on time and we arrived in Tampa at about 4:30 pm. Good old Tampa Airport - only the Cairns Airport comes close in convenience and layout. Of the multitude of airports we passed through during our 40 some hours in transit, we rank the Houston Airport well below those of Port Moresby and Rabaul, with Honolulu ad Guam somewhere in the middle.

Tonight we sleep in our own beds!!!!!

While the party from Tampa was being tortured in the Houston airport, the St. Louis crew made it home without incident. Arriving safely home at about 10 am, D'Arcy hesitantly unpacked the cooler full of the frozen and chilled samples, not knowing what to expect inside. What if all the samples were warm? Luckily, the plan devised for keeping them frozen worked fairly well. When the lid was opened, things were still chill to the touch, and most of the ice surrounding the DNA samples was still frozen. Woohoo!