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On passage to Hobart. The weather continues to favour us at the moment with relatively calm seas and light winds prevailing. We have commenced the final leg of Voyage 3 with the ship now pointed in a north-easterly direction towards Hobart. The last component of marine science sampling was collected at 1210 this afternoon and that means that all that is left to do is the analysis of samples, which cannot start until 24 hours after collection. The last CTD cast of V3 was conducted at Station 11 in the vicinity of 46S 150E, to a depth of 3,000m. This was completed in quick time by 1030 and the other sampling commenced, which included the dipping of some flow meters to various depths. As stated, the sampling was wrapped up by 1210. A big thanks to all of the Aurora Crew and AAD and JARE Science Support Teams for their work over the last seven weeks of marine science. Especially to Tascha for her management of all of the samples and onboard analysis, which continues well after the last net or bucket has been hauled back aboard. Tascha has also done a great job, ably assisted by Rachael, Mick, Paul, David and others, of keeping our 10,000 Krill guests in the luxury they have become accustomed too. Big thanks to Sascha for looking after CTD on its way up and down as well as to Aaron for making sure all the gear worked. To Per and the AA team, thanks for making it all run smoothly on the trawl deck as well to Gary for keeping the ship pointing in the right direction while all this was going on. Big thanks to Graham for coordinating the planning and executing the science plan as well as to Odate-san and the JARE Team for making this a truly collaborative effort. The next stage of the voyage is often the hardest, packing and cleaning up. This is expected to occupy all aboard for the next 30 odd hours. Bearing in mind the distance to Hobart (220nm) and the excellent progress to date it was decided that the opportunity to berth on Friday night should be taken up. So with that in mind we are aiming to use most of Friday to stow all of the marine science gear as well as general cleaning and other preps for the ship to be handed over to the crew for V5. The wildlife continues to increase around the ship, especially the birds. Today we have a pair of Wandering Albatrosses accompanying us, as well as an Antipodean and a Black Browed Albatross. Last night we had the pleasure of seeing a large pod of False Killer Whales cross our bow as well as a rather large humpback paralleling our northwards course. All aboard doing well and knee deep in packing, Ajax, Pine-o-Clean and Jiff in preparation for coming alongside Macquarie 3 wharf tomorrow (Friday) at 1800. 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.