The seamount is totally different from the colorful coral reefs that divers usually frequent. It is volcanic rock, but not totally bare because some corals and other flora make their homes here. El Bajo is also an apartment house for green moray eels, with their beady eyes and vicious-looking teeth. Actually they are not aggressive and can be easily approached, but don't try to grab one. At certain spots where plankton was upwelling from deep currents, clouds of little anthius fish were feeding along with a school of lovely surgeon fish (so called because of the scalpel-like spike hidden in their dorsal fin). But there were no large fish around and no sharks at all. Commercial fishermen have taken most of the large fish.

Anyhow, my remarks over the telephone were geared toward emphasizing the importance of the oceans for life on Earth and I placed a special emphasis on seamounts, which are the subject of this expedition. Good luck and best wishes to COA's 2008 entering class!

Hot water vents are a remarkable deep sea ecological community that we could not resist surveying. The crew of ARGO are great and willing to accommodate the last minute change to the plan, but this kind of flexibility is key to successful research and exploration.

I'll admit that I was unbelievably excited about my first dive in a sub. After donning a cotton jump suit and socks, Bryan and I gingerly entered the sub. As the sub descended, the water color changed from bright sunny blue to twilight blue to purple to black. Then ahead of us loomed a rock surface, like a small version of Everest covered with crevices and caves. In most of them swam foot long scarlet fish.