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A beautiful day on the Southern Ocean. It’s not often you find 3 knots of wind when working at 52S. The clear skies, bright sun and wandering albatrosses have brought out the big lenses. We met up with yet another round-the-world yachtsman yesterday, so it’s feeling pretty crowded down here. The sailors are probably not so excited about the calm conditions. On the science front, we continue to make good progress. We seem to be completing our crossing of the Subantarctic Front and getting into more polar conditions. Last night the sea temperature dropped by 4 degrees in a few miles, indicating we were crossing a strong jet of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Once we cross the frontal zone, the stations will be spaced a bit farther apart, much to the relief of the hydrochemists on board. At each CTD station we collect water samples at 24 depths, which are analysed by the hydrochemistry team for oxygen, salinity and nutrients. By the end of the trip they will have run a few thousand of each analysis, so they put in a heroic effort.
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.