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The Aurora Australis has continued the voyage towards Mawson station today, adopting a more Westerly heading as it follows the 'great circle' track – which provides the most efficient route from Hobart to Mawson when the curvature of the earth and our increasingly Southerly latitude is taken into account (....or something like that).
Despite the rough conditions experienced over the weekend, the vessel continues to make good progress and we're on schedule. Expeditioners and crew participated in an emergency drill today, with expeditioners mustering on the helideck and getting a feel for what it might be like to get dressed in their survival clothing in the event of a real emergency. The skies were relatively clear and the conditions were calm so it was a relatively comfortable exercise. The favourable conditions have also kept our onboard science teams happy, with another Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) making a splash this afternoon and further weather balloons released from the deck above the ship's bridge.
Pre-arrival briefings will commence in the next several days, with the first of the environmental briefings having already been provided to expeditioners this morning. The environmental briefings cover the strict quarantine measures the Australian Antarctic Division has adopted for all personnel and equipment entering Antarctica. Expeditioners are expected to thoroughly clean all of their personal gear, scientific or photographic equipment – and must also ensure that clothing and footwear are free from seeds and soil. A cleaning station will be set up in one of the vessel's labs, with vacuum cleaners, tweezers, brushes and baths of special detergent which expeditioners use to scrub their footwear or other dirty equipment with. To someone unfamiliar with these practices, the sight of someone vacuuming their shoes or fleece pants would likely appear strange, but previous studies have proven that even a few seeds or soil can introduce a range of unwanted 'aliens' to the sensitive Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments.
Expeditioners are also reminded about the minimum distances they must keep between themselves and Antarctic wildlife, with differing requirements for marine mammals and birds, including whether the animals are nesting / with young. Approach limits also apply to vehicles, boats, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Along with the quarantine procedures, these measures are designed to limit as far as possible the impact that our presence has within the sensitive Antarctic ecosystem.
The vessel is sailing closer and closer to the line of latitude of 60 degrees South, typically the area where voyages begin encountering their first sea ice and ice bergs and increasing marine wildlife. As a result, there was a very good turn out to the presentation provided yesterday evening by the Deputy Voyage Leader, Dr Frederique Olivier (Fred) – an accomplished photographic & film artist and one of our most experienced expeditioners in the Antarctic landscape. Fred provided expeditioners keen to make the most of the stunning Antarctic wildlife, sea and landscapes they'll encounter with helpful tips on how to use the different settings on their cameras, how to make the best use of light in different conditions, photographing wildlife and the purposes of different lenses / zoom capabilities.
Cheers
Mark & Fred
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.