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Yesterday afternoon a dozen or so expeditioners followed the ship's engineers into the depths of the ship for an engine tour. Emerging enthused about the experience, many expressed a renewed appreciation of the challenges and complexities faced by the engineers in keeping the ship running. As always, they have our thanks.
Last night the expeditioners gathered again in the theatre, this time for a presentation by Sonya on research relating to her PhD and specifically as to how aerosols, originating from plankton etc act as cloud condensation nuclei, and the radiative and climactic implications of this for climate modelling.
The ship continues to make good time towards Hobart despite winds of 40kts and swells that have us pitching and rolling throughout today and most likely for the coming day or so. Today is the last day of transit prior to disembarkation preparations commencing in earnest. Tomorrow, the floor of the mess is to be scrubbed, expeditioner personal protective equipment returned and performance reviews conducted. Naturally spirits are high in anticipation of all that coming excitement.
Further proof of marine science continuing on board the ship on our return passage is the submission below, gratefully received from John K regarding phytoplankton sampling:
"Phytoplankton sampling is being conducted concurrently with the Continuous Plankton Recorder transects, with additional samples collected while the Aurora Australis is underway. This is performed from the clean seawater line in the oceanographic lab 5 times each day. Sampling was first started as the ship departed the Tasmania coastline, continued throughout the voyage through the pack-ice to Casey station (and vice-versa), and will cease when the AA reaches Storm Bay. At the completion of Voyage 2, at least 70 sampling stations will have been covered.
There are three types of samples taken:
1. Pigment HPLC sample (high pressure liquid chromatography): for chlorophyll and other pigments; indicators of total phytoplankton abundance and types. These samples are also used to calibrate the fluorescence data and are staggered throughout the day to allow calibration of the variation in fluorescence with irradiance. Water is vacuum filtered through a glass fibre filter, and this filter is then frozen in liquid nitrogen.
2. Coccolithophorid sample: Water is vacuum filtered through a membrane filter, which is then air dried. Coccolithophorids are thought to be susceptible to ocean acidification
effects due to their calcified cell structure. The filters containing coccolithophorids will be studied using an electron microscope to reveal the extent of any cell malformation
or damage.
3. Whole water samples: 2 litres of seawater is preserved with Lugol's iodine solution, to allow phytoplankton cell counts and species ID using a microscope."
Tonight we once again have the good fortune to be an audience for another scientific presentation, this time by Bernd – topic as yet unknown. Stay tuned until tomorrow.
Kind regards,
James and Dave
V2 Voyage Management
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.