So I’m finally back up and writing after a few days with a cold, though we’ve been managing to keep the science going.
So since we left the Falklands (Malvinas) we’ve done one water sample for Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation each day. For each of these samples we require a new fresh bottle, as it happens these are Coke bottles, so there is a race on-board to make sure that enough Coke is drunk each day to keep the science going. It’s one of the more interesting scientific challenges we’ve faced so far. I’ll be posting a map of where we’ve taken samples when we get to shore so you can see how we’re trying to fill in some of the gaps in the data.
One of the most notable things is that the water temperature has increased significantly as we’ve travelled further north, which makes taking samples much more pleasant. You can also see the differences between the currents with ones coming from the South bringing much colder water and pushing us faster North. While we were in a North to South current yesterday we ended up going a lot slower because we were moving against the water, although the water was a lot warmer coming from the tropics.
As we’ve been moving I’ve been doing one trawl per day. I don’t have so much to report about these, because I can’t analyse the results until we get to land, but they seem to have been working very well. There’s some different small jellies and plankton that have been caught up in the trawls but very limited plastics so far. It will be interesting to get home and compare with the literature to see if this is just part of being in such a remote part of the Atlantic.
Later this afternoon we’re hoping to start fishing, we should be out of Albatross land and able to try for some fish. Everyone on board is excited about the prospect of looking at some fish gizzards, though possibly there is more excitement about actually eating the fish, plastics or no! And for the time being, that is all. A hallmark of good science is today following a similar pattern to yesterday, so just like good sailing, a boring day is a good day! We’ll let you know if we catch a fish!