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Today beneath slightly clearer skies, the ship continues on its South Westerly course. A moderate increase in ocean swell has led some of our number to keep their heads down as they adjust to the roll of the ship.
This morning, the ship's crew completed the first of four scheduled tows of the CPR (Continuous Plankton Recorder). To paraphrase the project's coordinator in his correspondence to us, the CPR is generally towed at ship's normal speed approximately 100 metres astern from the vessel for roughly 450 nautical miles enabling it to collect on its reel those surface or near surface zooplankton we encounter. By 'splicing' the consecutive tows together, researchers are able to produce an 'uninterrupted transect across the ocean [that provides] information on zooplankton distribution patterns, community structure, and abundance levels'. Facilitated by the ship's crew and volunteers from our pool of onboard watercraft operators, these samples have been collected on most voyages the Aurora Australis has conducted to Antarctica and back since 1991 as part of the Southern Ocean - Continuous Plankton Recorder (SO-CPR).
This afternoon members of the voyage team have been developing incident management plans, resupply rosters, briefing schedules and an assortment of other operational planning documents, meanwhile books, films, conversations and cups of tea and biscuits are ably consumed by the expeditioners. On board science projects running as expected.
Tonight in the D-Deck theatre we journey to the U.S / Mexican border and the world of the cartels in 'SICARIO'.
Regards,
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.