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Yesterday, we went whale watching. Well… it may have been the other way around. We ran across a significant krill swarm, started target trawling and quickly found ourselves joined by a very large group of humpback whales. It was difficult to make an estimate of numbers as they seemed to be in all directions both near and far but it could have been up to 100 in the local area. Some came very close to the ship and, while many people have seen whales from the Aurora Australis, it is perhaps the first time that many of us have actually heard whales as they were close enough on occasion that we could hear them blowing. Some were quite interested in the net and dived close to it several times.
All parties were enjoying the krill fishing; except perhaps the krill, some of whom foolishly took refuge in our net. Whereupon they were delivered into the clutches of another group of voracious seagoing mammals more commonly known as marine scientists.
Just like the whales, the scientists were pretty excited to be catching large numbers of Euphausia superba this far north where in theory they should not be. Construction work on a new theory will commence as soon as the rubble from the old theory has been cleared away.
This morning, we completed leg 9 and are taking a more south westerly course down towards the Antarctic continent over the next few days. Our stations are now further apart which is providing some respite for the team. It’s been a pretty packed schedule and the finish line is still some way beyond the horizon.
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.