Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 10:57

Hey Mr. League, Looks like you're having lots of fun. We saw the"how did ya do that" picture and we believe you are upside down on the ice. The safety tip has us guessing many things: 1. Checking to see if the ice above is weak 2. You were releasing air from your suit to prevent you from floating up to surface? 3. we have no idea!

When you get a chance, can you reply to our Food web question? We are very curious what the plankton are like in your part of the world, if in fact, there are many or any.

Question for this week:

We are learning about mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Do you see any examples of all or any of these when you go on your dives?

We know your busy and have many questions to answer. Have fun and stay warm,

Mr. Crandell's 8th grade classes

Michael League

Hey Mr. Crandell's classes!First, sorry for the delay. I just posted a response to your great food
web question. You can read it by [clicking here.](http://www.polartrec.com/forum/adaptations-of-marine-worms-in-antarctica...)
Second, you are right! I am upside down under the ice. Mr. Messick's
class got it first, but if you send email me (mleague@polartrec.com)
Selbyville Middle's mailing address, I'll get you a postcard too. For
the record, while all of your guesses were good ones, really I was just
having a little bit of fun during a safety stop. A safety stop is when
a diver stays at a shallow depth (15 feet) for a short period of time (3
min) and just breathes. This allows our bodies to get rid of some of
the nitrogen bubbles that have built up in our blood stream. It's a
safety thing!
Your question about the symbiotic interactions (mutualism, commensalism,
and parasitism) was so good that I took it to the research team. We are
developing a journal to answer your question. Stay tuned and watch for
it. I'll be sure to post the link back to this forum when it is all
done and on-line.
Thanks for the great idea!
Mike