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Today was foggy. Occasionally the fog and snow lifted to give about 1km visibility but soon dropped again to give only a couple of hundred metres. Even so we spotted humpbacks throughout the day as we conducted a large krill survey. When we found krill close to the surface we dropped cameras over the side to assess the size distribution and density of the swarm. It is hoped this approach will eventually remove the need to sample the krill to obtain an estimate of the total biomass. In one location we could see not only krill on the sounders but also humpback whales presumably lunge-feeding in the swarm.
Calling blue whales were close to the ship throughout the day but given the poor visibility it was difficult to assess whether they were inaccessible in the thicker ice floes.
Tonight we will continue the krill and fish surveys and hopefully by early tomorrow the fog will have lifted so we can resume the blue whale research.
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.