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Comments
We are currently sampling one of two planned transects from shallow (400m) to deep water (1200m) over the edge of the continental shelf. Last night we ran the trawl-mounted still camera down the slope for two hours and got some excellent images of the gradually changing sea-bed. We have also trawled across the slope, at 400m, 800m and 1200m, to collect the animals seen on the photographs, sampled the watercolumn with the CTD and, where the sediment was suitable, collected sea-bed sediments. Yesterday we had two failed trawls at 400m, one because the cod-end blew out, the other collected a single very large rock which damaged the net. We are now returning to the 400m site for one last attempt before moving on to the next transect about 20 miles to the east. At about mid-day yesterday we met a fishing vessel very close to our planned sampling sites. While manoeuvring to identify it we acquired densely spaced depth data using the underway data logging system. This was quickly manipulated by our Data Manager to produce a very accurate bathymetric chart that proved to be very useful in deciding the best line for running the transects. Regards, Martin and Sarah.
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.