The day before submersible operations is always rife with anticipation. Our whole team has been working all year to prepare for this mission, so now that we are so close to beginning, it can feel a bit torturous to wait one more day! However, there is lots of work and science to fill today. I spent some of my time today doing my first scuba dives of the field season. To make sure that everyone is safe, we do scuba checkout dives to practice our skills. After completing those, I headed off with a small team to the south basin of Pavilion Lake. We piled into a zodiac (a small, fast, inflatable boat) with our gear, and enjoyed the 10 minute ride south. Alex and Bernard jumped off, and swam over to place some sensors in one of the springs that we have discovered. Mike and I split off to investigate and collect samples of some of the microbial mats that inhabit the shallow waters of the lake.
Bekah preparing for a dive at Pavilion Lake
The mats are exciting for me because I am interested in the way some of the bacterial cells (specifically Cyanobacteria) move. The movement patterns of these single celled organisms can create complex shapes, or morphologies visible to the naked eye. Microbialites are “organosedimentary structures”, which just means that they are structures built out of microbial mats and minerals or sediments. The soft mats that I am studying are building complex structures, but they are not involving lots of minerals and sediments (they aren’t actually forming microbialites, so you might wonder about my interest). However, because the mats form complex morphologies, many of the bacterial behaviors that we observe in the soft mats will help us understand the formation and morphogenesis of other microbialites.
Studying these soft microbial mats involves lots of photographic documentation, as well as collecting samples for studying in the lab. We can actually grow these mats in the lab, and watch how the movement patterns work to build complex shapes. I work underwater with a pair of tweezers and carefully collect small pieces of mat into small plastic tubes. I carefully transport them back to the lab on shore, where we can begin our experiments. It doesn’t look very exciting underwater because I spend lots of time in the same place, but I actually really enjoy it! The mats are fascinating, and working underwater is very relaxing. Submersibles are fun, but sometimes it is nice to get your face right up close to what you are studying. They are both great ways to do science!
-Bekah
