On Hearing that a HAB (harmful Algal Bloom) was menacing the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Keys, Discoverer was happy to throw themselves in harms way to get some samples and pass them on to the agencies studying the effect. What a better way to serve the scientific community than to spend a few days puttering around the Gulf observing the abundant wildlife and stopping every now and then to collect some samples and take some readings. Its hardly the Gulf of St. Lawrence in winter! Crew members were repeatedly caught using the very scientific washdown hose to spray each other. Monitoring the health of the ecosystem has always been a proirity of the Discoverer, and making sure that the findings are available to the specialists equally so. We will continue to monitor the waters we sail as part of our ongoing mission.