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We've had a gentle introduction to life on the Southern Ocean, with beautiful weather and calm seas. We are presently on station at CTD 5. The first CTD station was deployed at 0300 on Wednesday morning. Everything is working well so far and we have made a good start. The CTD is the workhorse of an oceanographic expedition. The instrument is lowered from the sea surface to the sea floor. As it descends, it measures continuous profiles of temperature, salinity and oxygen. The CTD package also includes a rosette of 24 cylinders to collect water samples, called Niskin bottles.
The water samples are carried back up to the ship and used by a variety of groups to make measurements of physical and chemical parameters. We send a signal from the ship to the instrument when it is at the right depth to collect some water. Everyone seems to be travelling well so far and the calm weather is giving everyone a chance to both get their sea legs and get equipment up and going.
REGARDS: Steve, Fred and Penny
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.