We can see icebergs again. There is sunshine and blue sky and the continent appears as a ribbon of white satin with a hem just starting to fray at the edges. The trawls are back in action at double time, completing three stations between midnight and lunchtime. The whiteboard is rotating through a series of ticks, and shortening the average time for each trawl.
The Sitrep trumpets success:
“We have so far caught and documented about 28 different species of fish from the trawl samples. The fish assemblage appears to be quite different from that found at the coastal sites off the French research station, Dumont D'Urville, about 40 Nm west southwest of our current position. Many of these fish are new records for the region and there are likely to be new species amongst them.”
All day the ship marches between stations for a new set of sampling. The drops are shallower in this part of the ocean and practice is making us faster.
This first week has really tested the gear. The frames may be robust but they house more delicate parts. The French team includes a net-repairer who is often seen sitting sewing the tears up after each beam trawl.
Some problems with the heavy-duty winch had to be ironed out. It has an electrical cable running through it enabling underwater video to be shot in real time. This equipment has been put on some of the beam trawls and tested site by site with adjustments made after each drop. Now the pictures show the remarkable clear sweeps of the seabed that the scientists need.
And the technical support crew has been doing some creative troubleshooting too. The box-core equipment needs to land directly onto a flat surface for a clean grab. To overcome some rather bouncy landings, a wire counter was made that gives an accurate reading of the amount of cable paid out so there is a more precise reckoning on when it will meet the sea bed.
As I go about my rounds between each laboratory and deck, the backdrop of the Antarctic continent makes you stop and stare. From 20 nm it appears as a long soft low curve above the water, ethereally merging in and out of the light pale sky of the horizon. At times you can pick out the folds and crumpled trim of this marvelous, soft swathe of pure white.
Margot Foster is a journalist currently on board the Australian Aurora Australis, an Australian research vessel currently participating in the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML, IPY project 53). She works with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).