Tuesday 1 January 2008 à 13:55
Two New Year’s Eves are better than one!
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
Monday, December 31, 22h : The day shift stops work, Martin has given us two hours off!!!
Tuesday 1 January 2008 à 13:52
Data for the Aurora Australis at 16h30
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
Position of the icebreaker:
- latitude: 66°58.210' S
- longitude: 144°44.466’ E
Wind:
- direction: SE
- speed: 45 knots
Water temperature: -1.5°C
Air temperature: -1.7°C
Atmospheric pressure: 960 hPa
Relative humidity: 99.5 % It’s snowing!
UV-B: 1.1 W/m²
Water depth: 350 meters
Sunrise: above the horizon all day
Tuesday 1 January 2008 à 13:51
Position of Aurora Australis
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
FROM: Martin Riddle
DATE: 01/01/08
REPORT (SITREP) NO.: 316
UNIVERSAL TIME: 0100
LOCAL (SHIP) TIME: 1200
AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME: 1200
POSITION: -66 51.0, 144 33.2
HEADING: 148T
CURRENT SPEED (KNOTS): 2.5
DISTANCE TO NEXT WAYPOINT (NAUTICAL MILES): N/A
DISTANCE COVERED LAST 24
HOURS (NAUTICAL MILES): 68.9
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Overcast, very low cloud,
blowing snow and sleet, visibility poor, wind 40 kts from 155T with gusts to
50 kts
AIR TEMPERATURE: -1.8
SEA TEMPERATURE: -0.7
SEA CONDITIONS: 4-6 m SE
sea, with heavy swell
ICE CONDITIONS: None visible.
REMARKS: We are currently hove to as we ride out the weather. New and
interesting animals continue to appear in our trawl samples. So far we have
collected about 10 species of the worm-like, shell-less molluscs,
(Aplacophora) and yesterday we found a parasitic mollusc (family Eulimidae)
on a sea-cucumber (holothurian). Some of the Aplacophora and the Eulimid may
well be new records for Antarctica, although without reference to the
scientific literature we are not yet able to make that claim with
confidence. Among the highlights of the video captured by the trawl-mounted
camera is the footage of a surprised-looking pelagic octopus sitting on the
sea-bed in the split second before it was scooped up by the trawl. New Year
on the ship is of course a special occasion and last night the day shift
celebrated it on Tasmanian/ship's time with a masked ball. Now the night
shift are celebrating the GMT New Year. The creativity of those on board
came to the fore in the lead up to the New Year as many clever costumes were
improvised from the limited materials at hand.
Regards, Martin and Sarah.
