Andy_Shantz

17 hours! We slowly bring the pressure back to 1 atmosphere at the rate of 1 foot per 6 minutes until we reach 30 feet, then get progressively slower. After we hit surface pressure we wait an hour and do what's called a bounce dive, we re-pressurize the habitat and swim out.

Great question, as a reef ecologist a few come to mind for me, but for different reasons. The role of fishes, particularly herbivores, in maintaining healthy reefs has been fairly well studied on coral reefs, but for some reason results from these studies don't seem to get much attention outside of the coral reef research community. On the opposite end, our understanding of basic coral physiology is really underdeveloped. A lot of researchers (ourselves included) are interested in understanding the effects of things like ocean acidification, but without a better understanding of basic physiology - like how corals build their skeletons - building a predictive framework is difficult.

Because of the high partial pressure of oxygen in the habitat we can't have open flames or burners, so everything has to be cooked with either a microwave or hot water. The surface support crew can bring us fresh food, but fruit spoils very quickly down here, and since we're 9 miles offshore, brining fresh food daily is difficult. As a result, we're stuck with the ever-so-yummy freeze dried camping food

Ha! Haven't seen it in a while, maybe we'll try to stream a few episodes one of these nights

Great question. I can't speak for everyone down here but I tend to agree with Jacques' later philosophy, not so much that development is ruinous for nature, but that it certainly places constraints on wildlife and limits the diversity of species in the area. While underwater structures can quickly become natural reefs, the fact is that unintended consequences of development are bound to alter the environment