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Well the flat seas and light winds have decided to take a
holiday, instead we are now pounding head on into a moderate sea and
35-40 knot winds, which are right on the nose. Making for a nice ride,
occasioned by some large shuddering as the ship's bow cops a slap from a
large wave. The good news is that the meal lines should be a little
shorter today as the sea sickness takes out a few of our hardened
expeditioners.
Yesterday was a busy day as the Marine Science team of Aaron and Simon,
with 'Whale Whisperer' George on standby, got into the full swing of
trawl deck work. Preparations had commenced the previous day with
significant hours spent preparing the gear for the krill hunt. Aaron was
on the job early in the morning, watching the transducer read outs for
any sign of our elusive prey. At 0800 it was decided to do a test shot
of the Rectangular Midwater Trawl (RMT) to get the ship's crew familiar
with the gear, as a number of them had not 'gone fishing' before. This
test shot went well and all was in readiness for a swarm of krill to
paint up on the screen. The sightings of a number of Minke whales
indicated that we might be in a target rich environment and within
minutes the first blobs started to appear on the display at around a
depth of 50m. The team swung into action and over the course of the day
four shots of the RMT were fired. The first couple of shots did not
yield much in the way of krill, but the third and fourth resulted in the
capture of around 5000 of the Southern Ocean's finest. A great effort by
the Marine Science team and crew, who had put in long hours to achieve
this result. As we speak, our 5000 new passengers are enjoying the ride
in Krill business class with John doing his best to make their journey
all the more enjoyable. The next stop for them is the AAD's Krill
Aquarium at Kingston, a world class facility where they will join
thousands of other krill and be studied as part of a long running
project devoted to understanding the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
No rest for the Marine Science Team, once the Krill were in their beds
for the night, it was straight into the next phase of their work,
preparing the ARGO floats for deployment. The ARGOs are the main data
collection tool for a CSIRO project to map the currents of the Southern
Ocean. The floats will be deployed at designated points along our
passage home. As they are taken along for a ride on the surface
currents, each of the floats sends information about its location and
sea conditions back to the CSIRO via the iridium satellite system. This
is then used to map the currents across the southern latitudes. There
are hundreds of these floats beeping away across the oceans of the
southern hemisphere. We will be deploying at least 13 of these floats
as we make our way home to Hobart, enough to keep the Marine Science
lads working flat out and in need of a daily dose of fruit buns.
While the Marine Science team was perspiring on the trawl deck, the crew
took the opportunity to swage the port trawl wire, which involves
splicing the wire with a metal collar. Doesn't sound to impressive until
you realise that it involves using a 300 tonne press to ensure that
swage can handle 40 odd tonnes of pressure. Quite an impressive
evolution I'm told. John also took the opportunity to deploy the
Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) for its sixth run of the voyage.
To celebrate the success of our visit to Mawson, a successful day of
fishing and to welcome our ten new 'human' passengers (Krill weren't
invited as they get too rowdy) a few beverages were shared around in the
F Deck bar. During the festivities, Field Marshall Sprunk pointed out
that I had been remiss in not mentioning the appearance of 'Stay' at
Mawson on our day of departure. For those not in the know, Stay is the
Antarctic version of that grand old tradition, where somebody swipes a
Garden Gnome from someones front yard and then proceeds to send back
pictures to the owner of it from exotic locations around the world. In
our case, Stay is one of those old plastic Guide Dog Society donation
collection boxes shaped like a Labrador. For years the challenge has
been to hold onto Stay for as long as possible in the one location.
Expeditioners take pride in capturing Stay and moving him from one
station/field camp/ship/aircraft to another. With this in mind,
extensive measures are often in place at stations when visiting parties
arrive to ensure that Stay stays. This was the case at Mwason, where his
visit was being kept secret by the current expedition team, but word got
out and a raiding party, well not really a party it was just Fred, was
sent ashore to take Stay on his next journey. Unfortunately security was
too tight and Fred's plans were fraughted as we believe the plastic
canine was being kept securely at the bottom of the Cosray vault. As we
were slipping the lines at Mawson, Stay finally made an appearance,
waving goodbye safe in the knowledge that there would be safe at Mawson
for at least the next ten months.
Just to show what a small world it is, it came to light yesterday that
Kate, the Chief Steward, actually lived in the same town in the United
Kingdom at the same time and went to the same school as Jeremy an
expeditioner who joined the ship at Mawson. They don't remember actually
knowing each other, but have friends and in common. Funny how two people
from the same place on the other side of the world, can bump into each
other in Antarctica of all places!
Speaking of Kate, Kate was responsible for the 'Pearl Harbour' of the
Dessert War with a surprise attack last night. The lads were taken off
guard by a fully fledged flanking manoeuvre of Honey Roasted Pears and
Oranges accompanied by a tantalising custard and cream combination. The
result was devastating even forcing myself back on the field of battle -
and back down the gym this morning to work it off. A sensational effort
that was enjoyed by one and all. In a typical parry manoeuvre Kyle
claimed that he had formed an alliance with Kate and this was the first
thrust of their joint Axis forces. But if this follows a similar tract
as history, Ken should retaliate with something that could result in
Kyle's own Dessert Stalingrad!
On the wildlife front, we were just visited by a pod of Orcas. Another
great sight! Yesterday, whilst fishing, we attracted a number of Giant
Petrels including a White Morph Giant Petrel, as well as some Antarctic
Petrels and a few prions.
All aboard getting used to the slight taste of the Southern Ocean's best
we are experiencing at the moment, as a result very few at breakfast
this morning!
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.