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Welcome to the first sitrep below 60 degrees South. Its beginning
to look like a lot like Antarctic waters, with icebergs sightings a lot more
frequent. At the moment we are cruising at 12 knots under a grey sky in the
company of a fleet of about six bergs, which are passing down both sides of
the ship. The ship's radar is painting up more and more with each sweep, but
most of these are beyond sight, lost in the sea mist. Still, those visible
are presenting an awesome sight, especially for those amongst us on their
first voyage to Antarctica.
On the wildlife front, a Sperm Whale was spotted very close to the ship.
Beyond that the only other appearence was by a flock of Shearwaters, our
first sighting of a significant number of birds since leaving Hobart over a
week ago. The water temperature has dropped to below two degrees, signifying
that we have finally crossed over the Antarctic Convergence and hopefully
the wildlife will become a little more prevalent.
The formula one Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) team of John and George
have reduced their CPR turn around time from a lazy nine minutes on CPR #1
to a truly breathtaking time of six minutes yesterday afternoon on CPR #4.
Not an easy task when you are safely man handling and changing the innards
of an 80kg stainless steel plankton sucking missile on a slightly rolling
deck. But the boys, ably assisted by the Aurora crew, are up to the task and
looking forward to the next record attempt. George was so warn out he had to
have a second fruit bun! John reported lots of amphipods on the mesh after a
478 nautical mile CPR trip!
The Catering staff get another mention in dispatches today after Kate
produced an excellent apple and rhubarb crumble last night, forcing a lot of
people to once again renouncing their 'no desert rule'- including your
correspondent. At this point I must make mention of all the expeditioners
putting in the big efforts in the Galley. Due to the numbers aboard we only
have two chefs and two stewards, so, as always, the volunteers have been
lining up to help out. Special thanks to Zane and the Navy survey team who
have been putting the hours in on the chopping boards and potato peelers, as
well as Chris, Michelle and others too numerous to mention.
Preparations are well and truly underway for our arrival at Davis, with
meetings happening between all the players and plans being drawn up. We have
a lot to achieve, both ashore and on the ship, in a relatively short period
of time.
A big congratulations from all aboard the Aurora Australis to Nicki and
Shaun on the arrival of the newest AAD Shipping Officer, Amelia Kate Wicks,
born on 31 January at 1828 UTC+11. Don't worry Nicki, the iPhone and
clipboard have already been ordered!!
Regards
Rob, Simon and George.
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.