October 7, 2016
Slopes and Corals
The day began hot and noisy. The maze which is the steampunk, the boat that has been my home during this last month, greeted me with blasts of hot air and a hellish roar coming from the engine room.
In the work area the atmosphere was cooler and summery, and the Mediterranean was as flat as a plate glass window. The Lebanese coast was beautiful and Tripoli rose majestically in the east. We launched the ROV.
At a depth of 800 metres the robot moved across the slope of a large canyon, sometimes skiing, sometimes flying, and trying to capture the life seething down there.
Late in the afternoon the dive was quieter. Among the coral and at less than 100 metres it is all much more pleasing to the eye, more blue and full of colour, and today a lionfish, as invasive and poisonous as it is majestic, decided to parade in front of our cameras.
The day ended hot and noisy, but with the work completed.