margot stiles

It appears that jellyfish have invaded not just the oceans but the media, too.

Last week I told you about our marine scientist Margot Stiles' cameo on the CBS Early Show to talk about the jellyfish invasion. They aired a longer version of the story Sunday evening -- check it out. They included quite a bit of footage from our European office of jellyfish and our roving catamaran, the Ranger.

This morning the CBS Early Show featured our marine scientist Margot Stiles in a segment about this summer's preponderance of jellyfish. Why all the jellies? Suspected reasons include the overfishing and bycatch of their predators, such as the loggerhead sea turtle, tuna and swordfish, as well as pollution and global warming.

This morning we ran two dives in a row, working through lunch to try to finish early. Each dive lasts one to two hours.

The main drawback of joining a cruise part way through is that you begin the trip with stories of the amazing things that everyone saw just before you arrived. This cruise is no exception.

After several hours of transit we arrive at the next dive site for the ROV. ROV stands for remotely operated vehicle, the workhorse of deep seafloor research and the primary focus of this cruise.