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We did our last southbound clock change and are now on UTC+7 the same as Mawson.
The whale mooring retrieval and deployment were complete success. A faultless operation. The retrieval was combined with a FRC (Fast Response Craft) MOB (Man Overboard) drill.
The deployment of the acoustic whale mooring involved laying the parts on the trawl deck very neatly so no lines crossed or could tangle or snag someone, then lowering it into the water in reverse order, floats first, then the acoustic box and electronics package, then the acoustic release mechanism, and then finally the weights that hold it to the floor.
The whale mooring is basically a microphone in a very watertight box, hooked up to a memory card and moored about 1800m under the ocean by a block of steel plates. It records all the whale song in the southern ocean. The batteries last a couple of years. We collect them by parking above the mooring and sending an acoustic signal through the water, which causes a release mechanism to trigger and let the floats attached to the box rise to the surface... With a couple of these moorings we can count and monitor the movement of whales through the southern ocean, especially as we can identify individual whales by their distinct voices.
We are now heading to the entrance to Iceberg Alley, which is currently still ice filled. We will look at ice breaking options on our arrival.
Cheers
Andy and Amy
FTM
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.