Monterey Bay First Dives
June 26-29, 2000

	Mike Guardino Photograph by Kip Evans

This a day in port, a time to service the subs, pick up supplies and regroup for the next phase of the expedition. At the southern end of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the town of Cambria, and nearby is the legendary Hearst Castle, built as a palatial residence by publishing tycoon William Randolf Hearst. Now a museum and popular tourist attraction, the Castle features a recently constructed large format National Geographic theater. An audience gathered there this evening to hear from me and Kip Evans about SSE, see films from past projects and have a preview of coming adventures. Early the next morning, the McArthur is set to sail north arriving on station early on the 28th to begin diving just offshore from Point Lobos in the Monterey Marine Sanctuary.

June 28, Wednesday
Point Lobos, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Today Dr. Steve Webster from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and SSE’s Teacher in the Sea, Mike Guardino, science teacher from Carmel High School join SSE 2000. They have been diving at Point Lobos for years and have established monitoring stations as deep as scuba diving will allow them to go. With the subs, they plan to explore deeper. Mike’s students have been working on this project, gathering data about the number and kind of fish, starfish, soft corals and other animals that occur in the area.

	DeepWorker Recovery Photograph by Kip Evans

Weather conditions required us to move to a location in Monterey Bay, just offshore from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Hopkins Marine Station. Camera problems plagued Steve’s first dive, but after more than two hours, he returned with a trophy that demonstrated his expertise with the sub’s mechanical arm: a rusty space heater, dangling by its slinky black cord, clutched in the manipulator’s jaws.

June 29, Thursday
Point Lobos, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Oceanographers soon discover that electronic equipment and salt water are ingredients in a winning recipe for catastrophe. Wiring for our wondrous new digital video cameras, vital for us to document what we see from DeepWorker, have given us problems for days, despite many hours of fine detective work by Nuytco technicians. When Mike Guardino at last had a chance to explore the deep water sites that he has targeted since this time last year, the camera failed to function properly. He returned with a rapt expression of joy at having cruised among huge fields of soft coral—but with no images to share with us, his students, or the rest of the world. Mike was philosophical—sad not to have proof to back up his observations, but happy to have been deeper than he had ever been before and to confirm with his own eyes the nature of what had previously been beyond his reach. We consoled our disappointment concerning cameras with the knowledge that most magnificent accomplishments are preceded by many magnificent failures. Maybe tomorrow will yield the calm seas needed to work in the exposed waters at Point Lobos. And maybe this time, the cameras will behave.

—Sylvia A. Earle
Project Director
Sustainable Seas Expeditions

[Note: nationalgeographic.com does not research or copyedit dispatches.]