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On passage conducting marine science. Ship time now UTC+9. Today the weather is being a little kinder to us, with light northerly making for a relatively smooth ride. Last night was a different story with 40knt winds and 3-4m swells making for a rocky road along 64S. We have commenced transiting along a great circle route in an effort to reduce the distance to CTD Station 7, which lies approximately 570nm to the north east. In order to make it to the station at 0830 on 15 February the V12 engine has been brought online as well as the V16 this morning, adding about 3knts to speed of advance. This will allow us to gain some ground during daylight hours before darkness forces the ship to reduce speed to avoid icebergs. The marine science continues at a hectic pace, with the aim of gathering further data on ocean circulation and on plankton to determine the effects of climate change. All up we will be doing 16 CTDs, 44 XCTD (mini-CTDs), 89 XBT, 43 surface samples for water chemistry, deployment of the continuous plankton recorder when opportunistic as well as a raft of other science related activities. This has certainly been keeping the JARE and Australian scientists and support staff busy over the last 40 odd days with even more to come. It was the last session of the AA School of Japanese Science, Culture and Entertainment yesterday afternoon. A big thanks to Prof Tanimura-san and his band of JARE Expeditioners for providing us with an insight into their work, science, interests and Japanese culture. The only sights over the last 24 hours have been of some pretty spectacular tabular bergs drifting past us. As per yesterday, the wildlife spotting has been limited. This morning however, what was believed to be a Beaked whale was seen porpoising about 300m off the side of the ship. Besides that our only real companions have been the Antarctic Mutton birds. A big happy birthday to Mark, one of the helicopter engineers aboard, who celebrates a significant milestone today. All the best Mark! Our 10,000 guests in Krill Business Class seem to be handling the journey okay and a bit more lively today. They were a little lethargic yesterday. Tascha is doing a great job looking after their interests and keeping them in line. All aboard doing well, including the Krill, and looking forward to the first CTD. Regards Rob, Aaron and Mick
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.