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Today the weather has been very kind with calm seas and blue skies for the start of our survey around the Balleny Islands. These islands are spectacular – steep, dark cliffs framed by a thick blanket of snow, ice and glaciers.
We ran transect lines north up to the tip of Young Island where little icebergs (growlers) became too dense to continue so we headed east then south to resume our transects near Buckle Island.
The observation team is still busy but we have already recorded over 50 sightings of humpback, minke and killer whales. Much to the relief of the acoustics team we have also started to hear blue whales close to our current position. If these whales keep singing we may be able to find them once the survey here is complete.
The echosounder team have also had a good day – first detecting large krill swarms and later confirming the identification using brief mid-water trawls.
Fingers-crossed for similar sighting conditions tomorrow.
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.