Sunday 6 January 2008 à 17:48
Hump day with humpback whales
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
"Happy hump day!" is written today on the slate in the dining room. No one seems surprised, except for the non-English-speakers who are asking what message means.
Sunday 6 January 2008 à 17:33
Data for the Aurora Australis at 12h30
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
Position of the icebreaker:
- latitude: 65°32.021' S
- longitude: 143°09.419’ E
Wind:
- direction: SE
- speed: 7 knots
Water temperature: -0.2°C
Air temperature: -0.8°C
Atmospheric pressure: 991 hPa
Relative humidity: 82%
UV-B: 4.1 W/m²
Water depth: 2,700 meters
Sunset: 00h24/ sunrise: 02h42
Sunday 6 January 2008 à 17:11
Final preparations before the mission begins
Stéphanie Pavoine. Based in Dumont D’Urville station
First contact with Anne Goffart, our mission leader, over lunch at the base. We talk about materiel and logistics mainly. She sets up a rendezvous for us, David, Thomas and me, at 16h on the ship.
Sunday 6 January 2008 à 13:50
Position of Aurora Australis
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
FROM: Martin Riddle
DATE: 06/01/08
REPORT (SITREP) NO.: 321
UNIVERSAL TIME: 0100
LOCAL (SHIP) TIME: 1200
AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME: 1200
POSITION: -65 39.6S, 143 02.4E
HEADING: Various
CURRENT SPEED (KNOTS): 1.0
DISTANCE TO NEXT WAYPOINT (NAUTICAL MILES): N/A
DISTANCE COVERED LAST 24
HOURS (NAUTICAL MILES): 61.6
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Cloudy, good visibility,
wind decreasing 8 kts from 125T
AIR TEMPERATURE: -0.5
SEA TEMPERATURE: -0.2
SEA CONDITIONS: Slight seas, confused swell ICE CONDITIONS: Isolated bergs,
occasional bergy bits, otherwise open water.
REMARKS: We all expected the Big Polychaete to be the undisputed highlight
of the voyage, however, the Southern Ocean continues to turn-up surprises.
Yesterday, while sampling the transect from 400m to 2100m down the shelf we
blew out the trawl net as we tried to bring it on deck after sampling the
800m site. The video footage from the trawl-mounted camera explained why.
Almost the entire day shift crammed into the STS electronics cupboard to see
the footage and, after the first gasps of 'incroyable!', watched in hushed
awe as a scene rivalling the best parts of the Great Barrier Reef was
revealed. The sea-bed was 100% covered with living material - colourful
branching coralline species and gorgonians forming the major lower storey
structure and large branching sponges the upper storey. Amongst this were
numerous sea-stars, sea-cucumbers, crustacea and fish of types at yet
unseen. After repairing the trawl nets we returned to re-sample the site,
this time being very cautious with the time allowed for the trawl to be on
the bottom, and were rewarded with a relatively small catch but with many
species not previously collected. In marked contrast the communities at
1600m and 2100m were rather sparse with much un-colonised rock and coarse
sediment visible, but again the samples, although small, contained many
species new to us. The deck crew must be congratulated for their skill and
persistence in successfully sampling these very difficult environments,
without which the scientists would have nothing. We have now commenced the
main CASO sampling for the voyage.
Regards, Martin and Sarah.
