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This morning, we have turned southwards into Prydz Bay and are making for Davis, which we expect to reach late this evening to prepare for helicopter operations tomorrow.
Antarctic Krill are usually not hard to spot at this time of the year, because wherever there are large swarms of krill, there are usually large swarms of happy whales. This morning, we came across at least two dozen humpbacks in separate pods feasting on krill within a mile or so of each other.
Our resident Krill Scientist, Rob King immediately headed for the bowels of the ship to turn on the wet well, which has been successfully capturing good quantities of krill during this voyage (and which is best described as a vacuum cleaner for small sea creatures). At the same time, the acousticians headed for the echo-sounders to see if they could record acoustic signatures of this large swarm.
Everyone else grabbed their cameras and headed for the outer deck.
Those outside were rewarded with the sights and sounds of many humpbacks feeding and frolicking. Not only were the blowing sounds audible but occasionally, we could also hear deep sonorous whale calls carrying across the waves. Down below, the acousticians managed to capture imagery of the krill swarms using the vessels advanced echo-sounders systems.
Meanwhile, Rob managed to ingest a single krill whom we have dubbed "Lucky". It seems that krill are a little a harder to catch when they have whales on their tails.
Lloyd & Justin
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.