Today I am pleased to introduce a set of student blogs on Operation Deep Climb by the Tampa Bay, Florida, USA Chapter of SCUBAnauts International. SCUBAnauts aims to provide an opportunity for growth for young people aged 12-18 through participation in underwater research in the marine sciences.
The purpose of Operation Deep Climb is to “scale” Mauna Kea in Hawaii and document their observations. The bottom of Mauna Kea lies 4000 m below the sea surface, and the top lies at about 6000 m, making it 10 km high from bottom to top — arguably the tallest mountain on Earth. (For comparison, Mt. Everest reaches ~8500 m above sea level). While the operation took place in October, the students are working on their data and reports now. This is quite prompt — the results from scientific field campaigns often come months and even years after the observations.
To learn more about SCUBAnauts and follow the students’ blogs, visit the SCUBAnauts page.
From time to time, and with the help of FLEXE staff, I will be discussing the conditions the students encountered and the data they collected, and comparing the conditions to those we experience. Let’s enjoy this experience together!
Day 1 – 11 October 2007
Mack – 15
Operation: Deep Climb participant
Today was a very early day for the Operation: Deep-Climb (ODC) team. We had to meet at the airport by four thirty in the morning to catch our flight to Atlanta. In Atlanta we grabbed some food and sat down to eat before our connecting flight to Honolulu. The flight to Honolulu was a long one. It lasted nine hours and for the most part it was light outside so it was hard to catch some sleep. When we finally arrived in Honolulu, we got our bags and went to the car rental agency where we waited for the other group to show up. As soon as the other group showed up we loaded up the cars and headed for the Bachelor Officer Quarters (BOQ). After we got to the BOQ and got our room assignments, we headed off for dinner at the officers club at the Air Force base next door. After dinner we all returned to the BOQ and went off to bed.
Santannah – 14
Operation: Deep Climb participant
Though waking up at three o’clock in the morning was not my ideal way to spend a Thursday morning, it was an accurate start of events to come. Everyone gathered their boarding passes and equipment and we boarded the plane set off for Hawaii. This of course taking place after we switched planes in Atlanta, Georgia. Then, finally, after an almost ten hour flight, we were there!
When we landed in Hawaii, I was overcome with this feeling of appreciation of the islands’ beauty already captivated by the quick glimpse of the island before we landed. But growing inside of me this feeling of angst was building because as the day continued on the climb crept closer and closer.
Savannah – 14
Operation: Deep Climb participant
When our plane landed we were picked up by a bus that would take us to the car rental place. When everyone has a car we drove to Pearl Harbor base where we would be staying through out this trip. I got settled in and now it’s time for dinner. We were invited to a Mongolian BBQ. There you make a bowl of what ever you want. Fruit, shrimp, anything you want and you put it in your bowl. Then they fry it all up in a bowl. It was a cool experience because I have never done anything like that before. That was an excellent way to end the day because we needed time to wind down. Jet lag was really taking a toll on me. I went to bed at about nine with Santannah, Mary, Lucia and I woke up at three in the morning because it was nine in Florida.
