Today was our first tile collection day. We got an early start and headed out to the fore reef to collect some tiles. Tom and I collected 12 tiles which apparently is a lot for one dive. I could definitely tell that he was rushing yesterday but we still got done what we wanted. After that dive, Russ and Sally drove us back to Gump to start processing the tiles. When we walked into the wet lab and Tom was explaining the process, I realized that I have done similar work before with water samples. However in this case instead of filtering water we were filtering specific algae and coral. After filtration the samples are burnt inside a furnace and the difference in weight from before filtering and after burning gives you an ash free dry weight which tells the quantity of organic carbon in the sample. I started out rinsing the tiles with sea water to remove excess sediment from the tile for ease of removal of algae and coral. After that I got delegated to working to weigh out the filters. I spent the rest of the day doing just that. After work was over I planned a little bit more for my New Zealand trip and then had dinner. Dinner tonight was extra special. A few Tahitian workers from the station caught a albacore tuna and sold some to us fresh. We made a few steaks last night and man was it good. It was just about the best albacore tuna I have ever had. It makes sense because I was actually eating it the day it was caught instead of a week later or longer which is customary in the states. I have to say it will be hard for me to eat tuna in the states again because I am acquiring very high standards. Well tomorrow is another early day to harvest more tiles so I best go to bed. Until later.
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