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There were a few bleary eyes this morning after an exciting night where many stayed up late to watch the mighty Aurora Australis make her way through the sea ice. We have been in sea ice since yesterday afternoon and there have been sightings of whales, seals and many penguins. Every now and then we slam quite hard into some ice and the ice can regularly be heard scraping along the ship's hull. Snow petrels are whizzing around the ship.
The ninth and final CSIRO Argo buoy deployment and the last of four Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) tows have both been completed. The CPR will recommence on the way back to Hobart for another probable four tows, each about 450 nautical miles long.
Additional marine science is still being undertaken in transit, with six daily samples from the ship's Oceanographic Lab. These routine samples include seawater filtering for phytoplankton pigments, other micro organisms which provide information about ocean acidification, and whole water samples. Unfortunately we were not able to retrieve a whale mooring but we were successful in deploying a second one.
The ship continues to be a hive of preparations for resupply, with discussions with the station, a further environmental briefing, gear cleaning and cargo planning, including preparation for items to be returned to Australia.
There is a buzz in the air as we continue steady progress towards Casey with our anticipated arrival tomorrow morning!
Cheers,
Andy, Vic and Eloise
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.