We are rapidly approaching the equator. Tomorrow, we will begin our first twenty-four hour continuous station, in order to sample the water column for an entire day/night cycle. We will have a very long work-day! Someone else is also waiting for us: Neptune, the ruler of the ocean…
Neptune’s will is the law of the ocean. And according to this law, everyone who for the first time will be crossing the equator needs to be purified of the dirt and smell of the other half of the earth. After we have done this ritual, we will undergo the equator-baptism, which will be carried out by Neptune’s minions on board.
And Neptune must have been smelling us for quite a while: of the 40 members of the scientific party, only 6 have already previously crossed the equator. By the way, the baptism associated with crossing the equator is only officially recognized when one has the official certificate of baptism – the Ruler of the Ocean is in some respects very bureaucratic.
Starting yesterday, all of the unbaptized on board had to follow specific rules; it is better that we follow them so that we don’t aggravate Neptune unnecessarily. One doesn’t want to be in Neptune’s bad graces…