6:30am – Alarm rings. Go for a run or do some work in the lab before breakfast.

7:00am – Load the boat and prep SCUBA and sampling gear.

7:30am – Breakfast in the galley. Pack lunches and fill water bottles. Sunscreen up!

8:30 or 9:00am – Depart the dock for our first site.

9:30am – Arrive at our first site. Check out the substrate suitability on snorkel. Dana and I don our SCUBA gear and jump in.

10:20am – Finish sampling our first site. Depart for our second site.

10:50am – Arrive at our second site. Snack time!

11:00am – Scope out site and start sampling.

11:40am – Finish sampling our second site.

12:00pm – Lunch on the boat. Enjoy the scenery.

12:30pm – Move to our third site (or back to the station if only sampling two sites).

1:00pm – Arrive at final site for the day. Scope out on snorkel.

1:15pm – Start collecting sediment on SCUBA.

1:50pm – Finish collections. Head back to the dock for the day.

2:30pm – Arrive at the station. Wash and store gear. Carry samples to the lab to dry.

3:00pm – Afternoon coffee break or snack time.

3:30pm – Record GPS points and sampling notes for the day. Select sites and make a plan for tomorrow’s sampling. Arrange boat usage with the station and other researchers.

4:00-6:30pm – The work doesn’t end here. Help the other UCSB team sort insects, write a grant proposal, read papers for the class I’m supposedly taking on campus, edit a manuscript, etc. Put on a sparkly gold flash tattoo with the rest of the team for field solidarity.

6:30pm – Dinner in the galley. Watch the sunset. Don’t forget your headlamp!

7:30pm – Stroll back to the lab. Or perhaps to the yacht club for some evening fun. Pet a manta ray.

9:00-10:30pm – Bedtime. Maybe see a fluorescent blue-purple coconut crab on the way back to my cabin. Be careful, as it could pinch your finger off.

[Repeat.]