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This morning, the day shift awoke to the return of the confused swell and a resultant increase in ships motion. This is exacerbated by the fact that we are currently stationary for a CTD deployment.
Just before breakfast, we conducted a target trawl with the RMT where we tried chasing down a biological layer that could be seen on the echo-sounder.
This process involves marking the position of the layer as we pass over it, swinging the ship around, deploying the net and then attempting to pass it through the centre of the layer. This morning, we came up empty again, meaning that either we are seeing marine ghosts or the critters are able to swim away from the net or… we just missed! The real time video is proving useful as we can watch things swim into the net (or past it as the case may be)
The objective is to be able to compare the acoustic signature of the swarm with the actual catch so that it will be possible to better interpret the acoustic data collected in these regions. Target trawling is not easy as the echo-sounder and the net can be several hundred metres apart (depending on the depth of the target)
Speaking of units of measurement, the bridge occasionally try to confuse us by talking in cables, which we finally worked out was a 10th of a nautical mile (or 185.2 metres - I think…). Someone will undoubtedly correct me on that. Marine science is educational in so many ways. Look out for further obscure nautical terms in future sitreps.
We continue to head west along latitude 62.5 south before turning to the south-east tomorrow.
Lloyd and 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.