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The Mac laptop is sleek and silver and rather beautiful, Alison is using it to collate data from her remaining wave buoys to warn us of any possible swell that might cause the ice to crack, with some success!
Just before midnight 5 scientists were working on the ice under the light of the ships powerful spotlights when it was decided to return to the ship due to a deterioration in ice conditions. All equipment and flags were cleared from the ice in case it broke up overnight. This morning the ice appeared relatively unchanged, but again, a few hours after two groups deployed, ice conditions started to deteriorate a little further. The groups finished their experiments and returned to the ship. The ice station is now officially closed. The ice is well formed with an average thickness of over half a metre and up to two or three metres in places. We are surrounded by dense pack ice to the horizon in every direction.
We are currently about 40 nautical miles from the Dalton Ice Tongue, 60 nautical miles from the Antarctic continent and 312 nautical miles from the outer ice edge and the Southern Ocean. Once the CTD is complete we will head south in search of station 5...
Cheers
Andy, Brett
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.