Daily Log Report for
4
May 1997
Submitted by Richard Pyle
Rock Islands and coral reefs in Palau's lagoon.
Another island surrounded by an extremely inviting reef.
Lab facilities at the Coral Reef Research Foundation field station.
Daily Log Report for Submitted by Richard Pyle |
| After a seven-hour flight from Honolulu to Guam, Ken Corben and I spent last night in a cheap hotel and were up bright and early this morning for our 7am flight to Palau. Fortunately, we were able to leave our 11 checked bags (which included four complete Cis-Lunar rebreathers and an assortment of other miscellaneous gear in 69-lb. packages) at the Guam airport, so we didn't have to hire several taxis to transport the gear to our hotel, and then back again to the airport this morning. Our plane to Palau landed in Yap for a short stop, then continued on to Palau. The plane flew over the Rock Islands of Palau during its approach, and I took a few photos of the beautiful reefs below (through an airplane window -- these photos do not do the place justice!) |
Rock Islands and coral reefs in Palau's lagoon. |
Another island surrounded by an extremely inviting reef. |
| Upon arrival in Palau, we gathered up our equipment
and cleared customs without a hitch. We loaded our gear
onto a flat-bed truck and were transported to the Coral Reef
Research Foundation facilities, on Malakal Island.
This research station has some of the best lab facilities
I have ever seen! |
Lab facilities at the Coral Reef Research Foundation field station. |
| Ken and I spent most of the day unpacking and assembling dive gear. Late in the afternoon, we headed out for a shallow test dive to check the rebreathers (see below). Pat Colin also tested his home-built closed-circuit, electronically-controlled rebreather (aka, the 'Science Lung II'), which is remarkably simple in design. After that, we had dinner with a crew from the Waikiki Aquarium (who are in Palau to capture live Nautilus), and then we called it a day. John Earle, who was originally supposed to join Ken and I today, will arrive in Palau tomorrow morning. |
| Dive Number 1 of 1 |
| Divers: | Richard Pyle, Ken Corben |
 Solid line indicates depth, dashes ("-") indicate decompression ceilings, bar ("|") represents cleared to surface. |
| Max. Depth: 92 feet (28 meters) | Time: 5:09pm | Duration: 45 min |
| Location: | Augulpelu Reef; E side of reef; vertical drop-off (07 16.45' N, 134 31.48' E) |
| Marine Life: | An assortment of jacks, tunas, and wide variety of reef fishes and other marine life typical of this region. Nothing out of the ordinary. |
| Remarks: | We spent most of the dive testing the rebreathers, which appeared to work fine. |
These daily reports made
possible through the generous support of Toshiba America.
| Next Day |
 Palau 'Twilight Zone'
ExpeditionReturn to the Palau 'Twilight Zone' expedition home page.
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| Copyright 1997, by Bishop Museum. All rights reserved. All media are for the personal use of students, scholars and the public. Any commercial use or publication of them is strictly prohibited. |
