A first for Romain (and Etienne)
Monday was Romain's turn to take a dive in the Nautile. Romain is a chemistry technican, and will conduct measurements and sampling in situ, and analyse the TDMn in the water column
In what state of mind were you just before the dive?
Happy, enthusiastic and focused. Delighted at what I was about to do. I was focused and stressed, less by the Nautile but more by what I was to accomplish on board. At first I was more apprehensive of the dive itself but focussing on the work in hand soon took over.
What was your initial impression when you entered the Nautile's sphere?
It was cool, I was about to witness on the inside what I’d been watching from outside since the ship set sail: What will it feel like when the Nautile moves, when it’s on the rails, when you’re suspended above the water, when you enter the water, when you’re at the seabed?
During the 5 hours of the dive and all that you saw, which images first come to mind?
The rock that unexpectedly fell on the sub! When we were returning to the surface we saw the whirling, cylonic, big black smoker, blacking our view. It was very impressive, the sheer flow of it, the heat, a real black smoker with a hoard of shrimp clusters.
A lone shrimp swimming past the sub's window made me chuckle.
How did you feel at the end of the dive?
My legs were shaking and it was a bit like being on another planet. My head was buzzing, it was magical. I was slightly disappointed that some of the sampling didn't go to plan but I was enchanted by the whole experience.
To conclude, what was the most important moment of the day for you (before, during or after the dive)?
Inside the sub, you lose all perception of the depth. A calm atmosphere settles among the 3 of us present in the sphere. Choices are made in concert, we chat, eat, laugh, and concentrate together. Everything happens very quickly, I didn’t even notice that the light had faded during the safety explanations on the descent. We rely on the skills of the pilot and the co-pilot, and carefully follow all the guidelines and instructions. An atmosphere of confidence is born, we all want the dive to be a success.
I also came to realize the great difficulty of working on the seabed with all the complicated manoeuvres.
You don’t actually feel the movement of the Nautile when it descends and when it moves forward. It's a unique experience.
What also struck me were our colleagues who came to see us off. The benevolent side of those who are as happy for us to be diving as we are going down.
Have you an anecdote for us?
Some of sensors got a bit hot! We also had a piece of smoker fall on the Nautile. That wasn’t part of the plan…
The next day it was Etienne who made his first dive as co-pilot!
La première d'Etienne dans sa belle combinaison jaune !Crédit image : HERMINE2, 2022, Geo-Ocean