Above: The Cape Peninsula
Day 2 in the Big Brother house and the contestants are on their way! A very busy day today as we left Cape Town and headed South into the great expanse of water. The morning was spent making final preparations for departure – securing equipment and powering up a number of the science systems.
From 10:30 onwards a crowd gathered on the quayside to watch us leave (some even appeared to want to come with us!!) – at 11 o’clock we moved slowly away from the quayside and made our way out of the harbour and into the Atlantic. We had been warned that it was a bit choppy outside the harbour and the ship began to roll a bit in the swell as we departed. The scenery was amazing – Table Mountain looked especially impressive and clear.
Some of the scientists saw whales and there were quite a few sightings of seals. No sign of killer whales although I’m pretty sure they come here – I would love to see one!!
Once we had got clear of the harbour and shipping I powered up the various systems. The EM120 – which is a swath system used for mapping the seabed using sound. This allows us to three-dimensionally map the seabed. Unfortunately it was very choppy and we were moving quite fast which meant the data quality was a bit poor.
A few of the systems had teething problems that are common early – by mid afternoon all the systems were online and gathering data as we sailed past the Cape of
Good Hope. Over the coming days I will go through some of the systems and what they do so your not confused by random acronyms and geek speak!.
Well, in days gone past – visiting the Dr after leaving port would have caused some gossip! However, I’ve had quite painful earache the past few days and I finally decided enough was enough! Luckily, we have a Dr onboard (and a lot of medical stuff!) for this cruise because we are travelling so far away from the nearest inhabited land. Our Dr. kindly took a look at my ear and gave me some antibiotics which should hopefully clear it up in the next few days! I’m feeling better all ready!
Later in the evening I helped Dave and John get the CTD ready. A CTD is a round frame – sometimes called a carousel (because its round like a carousel – scientists are renowned for their creative thinking!!). This frame contains lots of different sensors for measuring characteristics of the water – e.g temperature, salinity, conductivity. We also attach devices called ADCP’s (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers) to the frames – these measure the speed of the currents encountered under the water. These carousels also contain lots of plastic bottles for sampling water. These bottles have “plugs” which can be closed via a control computer at certain depths – trapping water samples inside. Once the CTD is back on deck this water can be analysed by scientists…… I’ll add more about what they are looking for when I find out myself!!
I spent an hour on deck out of the wind which was howling! The sun is still very hot and I’ve gone slightly red. The weather will soon begin to change and get colder – better make the most of the sun whilst I get the chance!! Spent half hour sorting out the Antarctic weather gear in preparation for when it gets cold! It’s like Christmas all over again – we have been issued with all manner of kit for the cold climate – fleeces, sunglasses, gloves, hats, long johns!!
Oh, well – short blog today! I’m exhausted and looking forward to sleep!
Above: lots of people come to see us off in Cape Town....
Above: Panoramic
Above: The deck lads waiting for the pilot so they canm get the gangway in!
Above: The only problem with working in the middle of a shopping complex....... people who don't understand that we are a working ship. A few shouts and everyone moved back as we started lifting the gangway!!
Above: Neil as we leave Cape Town
Above: Stadium in Cape Town
Above: Mean bit of kit! Very fast - made our 12 knotts look like a snail....
Above: heading out into the great expanse
Above: An inquisitive seagul
Above: Scientists getting stuck in!
Above: Adding the bottles to the CTD Frame
Above: As Above
Above: Various sensors etc on the bottom of the CTD Frame. The yellow device is an ADCP (see above) for measuring currents
Above: Dave gives on of the bottles some TLC
Above: The "lids" of the bottles are connected to a metal catch via a strong line. When the catch is triggered by the operator using the computer in the main lab it releases tension on the line and causes the lid to close - trapping water inside
Above: Another bottle receives some TLC
Above: Close up of the bottle lid - the lid fits snuggly into the bottle sealing the water in
And the next part is for the ship lovers who seem to visit the website in droves.....
Above: Norwegan
Above: A distance shot of a bulk carrier making heavy work of the swell. Shame the ship was moving too much and I couldn't get it to focus!!
Above: Another shot of the same tanker a bit closer
Above: And another shot
Above: And Another
Above: And the final tanker image...
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