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Scrubbing the Sub

After the last dive of any Alvin cruise the sub’s crew and science party get out on deck to take the skins off the vehicle and scrub everything down with soapy water. It generally marks the point when the ship’s compass heading finally points towards port. Alvin Pilot Mike Skowronski is shown here on top of the vehicle scrubbing with the help of University of Georgia’s Laura Beer (orange hard hat) on the last day of a 28-day leg in the Gulf of Mexico. Alvin was diving near the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, so the vehicle was covered in small globs of crude oil.(Photo by Tom Lanagan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)