Rapture of the Deep
So much goes through one's mind whilst sitting in the sub on deck in the wind, awaiting deployment at the next survey station. Once the ship arrives at the targeted isobath, latitude and longitude, the sub support team swings into action. Until then, we check and recheck life support systems, try to stay warm, and imagine what creatures lie beneath the steely blue sea surface. A great book given to me by a very dear friend provides good fodder for the imagination ....
Infusing images from Ray Troll's Rapture of the Deep into my mind's eye prior to exploring the depths of Zhemchug Canyon provided great entertainment for the long descent through the water column. Ratfish Ray's viscious fishes and portraits of nautiloids, trilobites, viperfish, jellyfish and other organisms in marine evolutionary history wrench open one's thoughts as to what exactly we might encounter in the abyss. And then we take the plunge ... only to discover the truly bizarre myriad plants, animals and those in between that exact their existence from these cold dark water habitats just below the arctic circle. Crinoids, asteroids, amphipods, cephalopods ... fantastic!
