12 August 2022

#AntarcticLog: Diving on the Mid-Cayman Rise

Posted by Shane Hanlon

#AntarcticLog is a series of comics by Karen Romano Young. You can find the originals here.
 
Leg 2 of the Alvin Science Verification Expedition finds us once again exploring new territory. After all, that’s the point of certifying Alvin to dive 6500 meters — to give us access to much more of the sea floor.  Today we’re diving on the Mid-Cayman Rise, a spreading center in the Earth’s crust at the deepest point in the Caribbean.  
 
On board is this leg’s chief scientist, Anna Michel of the National Deep Submergence Facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Among other things she’s working to verify on her dive are the new lights installed atop Alvin. I wonder what she’ll see in their far-reaching beam?
 
Here’s my baseball card comic of Anna and another off Leg 1’s chief scientist, Adam Soule of the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. (Anna’s profile will be live on iiwasakid.com very soon!) I’m also sharing baseball cards of a number of other scientists — and one documentarian aboard.  Onward to new depths and discoveries! And more comics from the field, of course. 
 
Karen Romano Young is a writer, artist, deep-sea diver, and polar explorer. Follow her on Twitter & Instagram.