Into their third decent of the 2020 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s season, pilot Fred George and engineer Maurice Oliver, of the deep-sea submersible, “Aegir” cautiously approached the sea bed. The yellow and black, two-person craft had been named for the Norse God of the oceans.
During their second assent, the duel propellers of the craft had kicked up so much silt that the pair could hardly see beyond their own flood lights. This time they were allowing the weight of the craft to easy them into a closer position with the ocean floor.
Finally, after hours of dropping through the inky blackness, the radar showed they were nearing bottom. George turned on the forward and bottom lights, then gently throttled the submersible forward.
“Top side, this is Aegir – we’re on the bottom,” Oliver spoke in an even and calm voice into the mic.
“Roger, Aegir,” returned a woman in the same evenly paced voice.
“What is that?” George asked as he brought the power to neutral.
Oliver looked at where the pilot was pointing.
He could see a lengthy white object that seemed to be tapered, “No idea.”
Together they worked to position the craft over the object and then carefully retrieve it from the soft silt. Gently, it was placed in the retrieval basket in front of their bubbled canopy.
“Looks like a spear point, perhaps obsidian. We’ll know more once we get top side,” Oliver said.
“Well, what ever it is, it doesn’t look like it belongs,” George offered.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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