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Our Southern Ocean cruise continues, with smooth seas and light
winds making for a very comfortable transit homeward. Although overcast
at the moment, the sun has been doing its best to shine through some of
the breaks in the clouds making both the sunrise and set over the last
24 hours spectacular. We are still accompanied by bergs but their
numbers are gradually diminishing as we slowly edge our our way north
and the water temperature increases. We crossed over 60 degrees south
sometime yesterday and have well and truly passed the Antarctic convergence.
Last night the Marine Science team finally got to send out the first two
Argo floats, the first at 2100 and the second 0400 this morning. Due to
the extensive preparation put in by the team, all went to plan and
without a hitch. These were just the first and there are another 11 to
deploy before we get to Hobart, the pace is relentless!!! On the CPR
front, no records this morning to report as one of the stainless steel
bolts holding the cassette in place was found to be faulty and needed to
be replaced. This caused a temporary halt in proceedings while a
replacement was found. The CPR was eventually fixed and was sent on its
way. Don't worry lads another opportunity for you to shine will be had
tomorrow and I don't think you really need the air guns, flame retardant
suits, gloves and helmets next time! Its the trawl deck not the Monte
Carlo Grand Prix. Despite the deployment issue the CPR travelled 447
nautical miles and the silk contained a cornucopia of euphausiid larvae,
phytoplankton, amphipods.
Despite our busy schedules yesterday, we were able to 'squeeze' in an
emergency muster drill, between the morning matinee, lunch and the
afternoon screening of 'Deadwood'. This was a momentous occasion, in
that it will be the last muster drill, if everything goes to plan, we
will have to attend in Antarctic clothing as the next one should be in
the warmer latitudes. Next thing to look forward to is the Antarctic
clothing return ritual! Its ticking off the little things like this that
make the days go quicker and make getting home actually fell closer.
After the muster, the crew ran through the use of the ship's compliment
of flares and rocket line thrower. Some out-of-date hand held flares
were used to demonstrate proper procedure. Robbie, the Chief Mate, had
been itching all morning to let fly with the rocket propelled line
thrower, and was seen on the morning watch lovingly preparing it and
saying things like, "...my precious" - just a little creepy. He was
like a kid with a new toy and wouldn't let anybody else play with it and
had a huge smile in his face when he finally got to set it off on the
helideck. This handy implements sole purpose is to pass a line between
two ships. Watching on the back deck was a small flock of Antarctic
Prions, which seemed intrigued by the goings on and weren't particularly
perturbed by the pryrotechnics display and even came in for a closer
look when the smoke flare was set off. After all this was done and
dusted it was back to the daily grind and marine science.
On the science front Theo has provided the following about his work with
the Fabry-Perot Spectrometers at Davis and Mawson, over to you Theo:
“Fabry-Perot Spectrometers (FPS) at Mawson and Davis collect light from
aurora and airglow and computers record spectra. From the
characteristics of the spectra it is possible to infer the speed and
direction of winds and temperature at the height of the aurora and
airglow. Red airglow and aurora happen about 240 km above the surface of
the earth, on the edge of space, in the part of the atmosphere that is
called the thermosphere. Green aurora are lower at about 100km.
Recording winds and temperatures is a bit like reporting on the weather
and this field of study is often called Space Weather. There are
mathematical models that predict average winds and our results are
compared with the models. In our present state of knowledge it is not
possible to construct a reliable general circulation model of the whole
atmosphere but as existing models are improved and extended up into the
thermosphere our data will become part of the validation process for
modelling the whole atmosphere and predicting climate change.
In past years we have found that vertical winds in the thermosphere blow
faster than anyone expected them to.
In the past couple of years we have seen wind direction influenced by
aurora. Aurora often follow the earths magnetic field lines. Magnetic
field lines pass through the atmosphere above Mawson and Davis and out
into space and then re-enter the atmosphere above Scandinavia. In
cooperation with groups in the northern hemisphere we have found that
under certain conditions thermospheric winds at both ends of magnetic
field lines are similar. There are other conjugate phenomena (things
that happen at both ends of the earths magnetic field lines) so it is
reasonable to think that something connected with the magnetic field
lines is driving the winds in the upper atmosphere.
Observations with Fabry Perot Spectrometers in Antarctica started in the
early nineteen eighties. Interpretation of the data is not
straightforward, assumptions and approximations have to be made and
averages taken. There is still a lot of room for improvement both in the
performance of spectrometers and number of observing stations. We are
now using a second generation of spectrometers that have higher spatial
and time resolution. Technology used in our spectrometers is advancing
all the time and they are very temperamental instruments. An FPS is like
a shy cat. It does not like to be touched very often but it hates to be
ignored. We visit ours at Davis and Mawson as often as we can and give
them lots of TLC. . . Hmmm thank heaven for sticky buns.”
Too right about the Fruit Buns, Theo. Yours is waiting for you now!
George 'The Whale Whisperer' again wove his magic last night as his
appearence on the bridge again heralded the sighting of a lone Minke
whale! Beyond this our wildlife encounters have been limited to the
previously mentioned visit of some Prions as well as some Shearwaters
and a lone White Chinned Petrel. The Albatrosses that buzzed us
yesterday have not returned but as we get further north we should
hopefully see a few more.
I have to report that we have picked up an additional baker at Mawson,
Jeremy has been helping out Ken and Kyle in the Galley over the last
couple of days with baking duties. He has taken over the Fruit Bun
provisioning duties and has maintained the high standard achieved by
Kyle, as well as providing his own special bread rolls and loaves. Keep
it up Jeremy, but always remember the Fruit Bun mafia is watching - no
pressure!
On the battle scared landscape of the Dessert war, there was a massive
counter offence last night, which was tantamount to a culinary
Blitzkrieg as Kate rolled out the Tiger Tank of dessert, the Chocolate,
Pecan Nut and Raspberry Torte! A truly devastating attack akin to the
opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, in so many ways, that has left
many in shell shock. This masterpiece was richer than Bill Gates and
Warren Buffet put together, needing a dose of cream to slightly soften
its impact. The question dogging the judges was this now number one? Has
it usurped the Banana and Caramel Self Saucer? Does it further add to
the path of destruction wrought by the Honey Roasted Pears? Did it
counter the blow struck by the Crepe a la Rawson last night? The
unanimous decision by the panel was yes! The unholy alliance of Kate and
Kyle has finally taken the number one spot, their star is in ascension,
Ken is in retreat. The only question now is can Ken recover or is this
just his Dunkirk moment from which he will return to triumph???? Standby
for more.
All aboard sitting back recovering from Kate's Chocolate, Pecan nut and
Raspberry Torte and contemplating what TV series to watch now!
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.