Over the last few days, the tool pushers, drill operators, engineers and scientists have worked around the clock to drill a hole 1,327 meters below the ocean’s surface to install the ACORK, a casing that will serve as a tube to monitor pressure of the earth below the earth’s surface. When we rise in the morning, the drill is still spinning and the sparks are flying to weld together the pieces for the ACORK. This tube-like instrument is over 300m long. The top part of the ACORK will rest on the bottom of the ocean in a cone with the bottom portion inserted deep into the earth’s surface.

With this expedition resting on the correct installation of this instrument, everything must be perfect. If just one person on the platform raises a question about something, everyone stops to double, triple and quadruple check the point of interest. Starting yesterday afternoon, piece by piece the ACORK was built as it was lowered into the ocean. This evening around 8:00pm PST the ACORK entered the ocean floor.

So how many people does it take to screw in an ACORK into the bottom of the ocean?