January 21, 2014 Slideshow

Xi Wei leans against the rail of the Atlantis and looks out over the Pacific.

Kerry McCulloch wraps up an experiment in Atlantis’ main lab.

(Clockwise from left:) Sean Sylva, Stefan Sievert, Jesse McNichol, and Jeff Seewald discuss their research over coffee on Atlantis’ mess deck.

Able-bodied Seaman Kevin Roth looks astern from the starboard wing of Atlantis’ bridge, which towers more than five stories above the water.

Here’s what Able-bodied Seaman Kevin Roth saw as he looked toward the ship’s stern from Atlantis’ bridge (previous photo). The round white object in the middle of the image, called a “radome,” houses the satellite antenna that keeps us connected to the internet (making Dive & Discover possible).

The ship’s mast supports a wide array of antennas Atlantis uses for navigation and communication. There’s also more low-tech signaling in view: The flat metal shapes (circle-diamond-circle) on the left are displayed whenever Jason and Medea are deployed. These “day shapes” tell passing ships that the Atlantis has limited movement (and therefore can’t move out of the way).

Members of the science team and Jason crew look down over the bow of the Atlantis as dolphins play in the waves below.

As the ship cruises away from Acapulco, huge pods of dolphins surf on the ship’s “bow wave”—the constant curl of water that any ship creates as it plows through the ocean. The dolphins sometimes jump out of the water, turning and flipping in midair.

Once the “dolphin show” is over, the scientists who watched it are all smiles. From left: Sean Sylva, Dionysis Foustoukos, Jeff Seewald, Leonid Germanovich (red shirt), Stefan Sievert, Donato Giovannelli, Miri Sollich.