Just a word of thanks to Maureen, Michael and Tracey for your kind words. I'm actually blushing as I read your posts -- I just checked Tracey's message and scrolled up to read the others.
RE: the matter of the MIR ballast. According to Mike Harris -- who should know -- the MIR craft uses water for ballast and does not drop anything when they surface. The ballast in place came from the earlier ALVIN dives -- Harris' quote is to the effect that the ballast actually says ALVIN on it.
Also, RE : the beer cans. Mike said the reporter from Der Speigel took his comments out of context. He expressed frustration at two different instances of spotting an object, taking 30 minutes to get the submersible adjusted, picking it up and seeing in one case, the Heiniken label and in the other a large silver can with a gold colored insides -- an old 2 gallon can that once held spaghetti sauce. He indicated to the reporter that he wished they could put up a sign on a buoy to stop people from dropping trash. he said he told her that people know the wreck location and that they stop to toast and then throw empty bottles and cans overboard. Somehow that became a quote about his crew littering the bottom with beer cans.
The language barrier might have been an issue, and I suspect the truth is somewhere between the two extremes, but I did get a stong sense that Harris was strongly opposed to anyone dropping anything overboard at the site. He said, "Tulloch got yelled at once for throwing a rock overboard. You never know what that stuff might hit and break."
