Dredge 73, the last one of this cruise, landed on Revelle’s fantail just before lunch today. “We've got rocks,” yelled Gene Pillard, as he directed the line handlers and brought the dredge on board. After dredge 72 this morning, Gene thought we’d have time for one more dredge.

Sure enough, like clockwork, Gene got the dredge to the bottom, snagged four rocks from the 1,500 meter-deep terrace south of Isabela and brought it up with 5 minutes to spare. Captain Curl turned the ship to head 053 degrees northeast and Revelle steamed for Puerto Ayora at full speed.

With the glorious white sand beach of Tortuga Bay passing by the port side of RV Revelle this afternoon, we will anchor within the hour in the harbor of Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island.

Our work this past month to understand the secrets of Galápagos undersea volcanoes has been very successful. We have intensively surveyed, dredged and photographed the submarine lava flows, cones, and terraces around Fernandina, Isabela, Genovesa and Floreana Islands. Each rock, shard of volcanic glass, and biological organism we have collected provide clues to the research questions we will study in the years to come as we analyze all our data.

After 24 days at sea, we are excited to walk on land, visit the lava tube near the summit of the volcano on Santa Cruz, and have a last chance to see the tortoises, iguanas and finches that call the Galápagos home. Tomorrow afternoon, Revelle will leave the “Enchanted Islands” for Costa Rica.

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