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The bergs are becoming more frequent as we continue South. Yesterday eve we passed close by a couple of spectacularly shaped bergs that along with a pair of Minke Whales provided great viewing and photographing for all of us. We are now heading for an Acoustic Recording Package (ARP) that is moored on the ocean floor some 1900m below the surface. Before going in to the Zongshan/Davis area we will attempt to recover two of these moorings if the weather and ice permit. An ARP records low frequency sounds (the frequency range of most baleen whales) for a year or more. The two we are looking for were deployed in February 2005. The ARPs work especially well for blue and fin whale sounds which can travel over 100km. Detections of the sounds of different whale species can be used to examine seasonal variation of whale presence, relative abundance of calling whales, and potentially timing of migration. When we get to the ARP we will send it a signal that will cause it to rise to the surface where we will be watching with albatross like eyes to locate it and pluck it from the water! Yours Aye Robb and Simon
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.