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Whales are the thing to see at this stage of the voyage. Early this morning a privileged few were lucky to see a humpback come very close to the ship. Its huge, black bulk glistened in the early morning light as it made several appearances on the surface to spout. Others have had similar viewing experiences. Birdlife is ever present. A pair of light mantled sooty albatross made things easy for photographers yesterday evening as they escorted the ship, swooping off the wave crests and over the bow for some time. Four cape petrels hovered in the ship’s slipstream only a few meters from observers on the bridge wing this morning seemingly oblivious to our presence. We have now passed from open water into the pack ice. Initially the ocean’s surface had a scattering of fist sized chunks and an oily sheen but gradually this changed to lumps the size of whitegoods and then into larger flat floes. The number of bergs visible has increased with shapes ranging from big tabular sections of glacier to asymmetrical ones with spectacular arches and spikes. Preparations for our work at Casey continue. The crew were out on deck in a snowstorm yesterday re threading the crane to take the heavier loads we will need to discharge at Casey. The weather forecast is good for at least the first few days of 2007 so we are hopeful of a smooth operation. We plan to have a BBQ on the trawl deck tonight and should be dropping anchor in Newcomb Bay first thing tomorrow morning.
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.