This is the fourth report from R/V GYRE for the 3rd week at sea on the Deep Gulf of Mexico Benthos (DGoMB) Survey Cruise, Leg 1. As of this writing, we have completed 21 of our 22 scheduled stations. Our last station will be occupied tomorrow and we will head for a 4 day port stop in Port Aransas, Texas. We have sampled to compare the biota within slope basins vs. that not in basins (the B and NB sites). We have sampled for a comparison of LGL (NGOMCS) data versus our own sampling (the W transect). And we have added a transect further west to reinforce the earlier findings (by LGL in NGOMCS) that the fauna of the eastern GoM is different that in the west (the RW line). We also sampled the Alaminos Canyon (AC1). At the end of today's last station we had logged 207 activities.

Notably, late yesterday someone shouted that we had taken our 100th successful big GOMEX box core. Thus, at that point we had quantitatively sampled over 20 square meters of ocean bottom for macrofauna, meiofauna and bacteria, plus a wide variety of associated physical and chemical parameters.

We continue taking CTD profiles at every station down to the bottom few meters above the sediments. This is accompanied by a 12 bottle cast for routine water chemistry. In Alaminos Canyon two casts were made to give us a sampling density with 24 instead of 12 bottles. Also, every site has been sampled by 5 full GOMEX box cores and associated subsamplings. The ADCP is run continuously during and between study sites.

The digital camera triggered by bottom contact is working well, following adjustments in the trigger weight and diminished sea state. [High seas make bottom contact difficult to monitor and also cause pre-tripping in the water column. This is a new system but we now think we have worked out all the kinks.] The numerous bottom pictures up the RW line from deep water up the slope are excellent and abound in evidence of extensive benthic activity.

Trawl sampling has not been as successful as the other activities. Both our big otter trawls were lost, as reported earlier. The beam trawl is being used successfully now, but is not capable of catches like those of the otter trawl. For the second leg (May 28 to June 25), two new trawl nets and one new set of 7' wooden doors have been ordered and will be picked up while in port. We have also ordered new mesh of a smaller size (1" stretched) to use to line the beam. In addition, two additional otter trawls are being borrowed from UTMSI as backups. Thus trawling will be pursued with vigor during the second leg.

Approximately 30% of the scientific party will be rotated during the port stop. All participants look forward to visiting UTMSI in Port Aransas since investigators there are important partners in this study.