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Yesterday afternoon’s longline deployment became an adventure of epic proportions when the distant sea ice suddenly and unexpectedly closed in around the ship, despite there being almost nil wind. With nearly 2 km of line out and the camera system attached, the ice closed in over and around the line. All involved did an amazing job in very difficult and changeable circumstances, over an 8 hour period, to carefully recover all the gear. It may have been a situation just like this that resulted in the abandonment of the longline we snagged on the 4-5th January whilst trawling, so the recovery of our longline demonstrated admirable perseverance and teamwork by all the crew. Needless to say, that’s it for longlining for us! We’re now using the technique developed yesterday using the longline and camera system to “teabag” the ocean floor, to better define the extent of the interesting habitat found in the vicinity of a steep canyon-like feature. This technique can be used in relatively small patches of open water, which is about all we have left to work in at present.
Regards, Doug, Aaron & Margaret
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.