Not Quite A League- pg 3

*Not Quite A League - continued page 3*

	An alarm will go off if the water rises to a depth that jeopardizes the chamber. In case of emergency, each aquanaut always knows where his flashlight, knife and breathing apparatus is and can find them with his eyes closed. In case of flooding, small bottles of air that can be carried under one arm are used to surface. Having spent more time in undersea habitats than anyone else in the world, Wells is accustomed to these conditions. "The nighttime is the most exciting time to be watching out the window because the fish and crabs are attracted to the light outside," he says. "You watch the plankton, then the critters that eat them, then the others that eat them. If you turn out the light they all try to swim through the window."
He wasn't surprised to find red finger sponge on the bottom of the Bay but he was surprised at its abundance. "When people see a photo of the red finger sponge, they think it must have been taken in the Caribbean somewhere," he says. "They're always shocked when I say it came from the Chesapeake Bay."
	Even Wells has been surprised at the colors below the murky water-red finger sponge, green sea lettuce, yellow and black fish. He hasn't identified all the critters yet, but he says they certainly aren't shy.
	"I've been photographing a long time but I've never been able to get such a good photo of a soft clam with the siphon extended. They usually pull down and hide. I had my lens only about an inch away from this one." Different animals visit depending on the time of day. "There's a dramatic difference between the ones you see at four a.m. and the ones you see at nine p.m.," Wells says. "It's easy to tell they're completely different."
Word of BAYLAB has spread quickly. On the third mission, Cindy Bater, a teacher from Long Beach, Calif., joined Wells. Bater teaches 11th and 12th grade students at a high school specializing in math and science. She received a grant from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Foundation to develop curriculum for an elective course to study the closed environments of space and sea. "I vacillate between extreme excitement and extreme panic," she said before the mission. "What's neat is that my students are buying into my excitement about this project and we'll be learning together." Bater had her diver certification but became a full-fledged aquanaut with this mission because she lived more than 24 continuous hours underwater.
	BAYLAB can be left unattended with the hatch secured. It has a lighted surface marker and radio antenna to designate the submerged object. Before the aquanauts re-enter the chamber, the hatch is removed and the chamber is purged by blowing fresh air into it. While the aquanauts are in the chamber, a dive boat is moored at the surface above BAYLAB displaying a "diver down" flag.
Wells and his colleagues intend to spend time underwater year round at the present location to experience the change of seasons. The next addition to the project will be a phone line that will run underwater and connect to BAYLAB from the dock, making internet access available from the chamber. After its mission off Gwynn's Island, BAYLAB's next location remains undecided. The system will operate at any depth, but the divers are limited to a depth of 21 feet without using a decompression chamber.
Wells will report findings of the project through his films, website, at scientific meetings, and when invited to speak. He acknowledges that many other dive sights are more appealing than the Bay's dark shadowy waters. Coral reefs are beautiful and the water is warm. But a scientist doesn't select a problem by the ease of the environment. The Bay deserves study, and Wells has accepted the challenge. "The human eye remains one of the best tools available to the scientist," Wells says. "Direct, long-term observation of the events occurring in the Bay can make significant contributions to our understanding of the complex nature of this valuable ecosystem. Despite the difficulties encountered in working in the dark and often cold waters of the Bay, the need for such work remains."
Reprinted by permission of The Chesapeake Bay Magazine Some pictures courtesy of BAYLAB & The Chesapeake Bay Magazine	About the Author: Blanche Herring Scharf cruised into Deltaville, Va., with her husband Len on their Pearson 42' in 1989. They live on Jackson Creek and currently cruise the Chesapeake and points South on their PDQ 36' Anagyri.