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It's been a busy 24 hours. After completing a hard day of ice breaking tests, we enjoyed an evening of sailing past the immense field of icebergs that delineate the Petersen Bank. This is an area of relatively shallow water (around 300 metres) that traps hundreds of icebergs and thereby forms a natural barrier guarding the entrance to Casey Station. Fortunately the winds were favourable and traversing the barrier became no more than a spectacular scenic tour of the icebergs.
The Voyage Leader (who is still wont to writing about himself in the third person – and also wont to excessive use of the word "wont") was astonished to find it necessary to draw this amazing display to the attention of two expeditioners, who were totally oblivious to it because they were playing video games in the observation deck with the blinds down.
Today, we recovered the Casey whale recorder and deployed another in its place. This device, which closely resembles a drowned dalek, has been sitting on the bottom of the ocean at 2700 metres depth for two years recording whale song and waiting for the day when a ship would tell it to come to the surface. Today was its lucky day and another 15 months' worth of data will be coming home with Nuyina.
Tonight, we are undertaking the final science commissioning task of this voyage for Antarctic waters which is known as the octagon and involves sailing, not in circles, but in octagons. The purpose of this test is to measure the noise performance of the acoustic instruments while sailing in different directions and speeds across the waves. As I look at the screen, It's three sides down, with five to go.
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.