Positive thinking

Date: 2014-01-07
Pos: 73°6.65 S, 114°6.52 W
Sea: 1 m
Wind: NW 10 m/s
Weather: Sunny

Our heavy working stint is now over for this time and we have had some time to catch up with sleep. The weather is finally really nice and sunny. My portfolio of iceberg photos is steadily growing. Not so many animals to be seen where we are now, only the occasional albatross and snow petrel. We saw a minke whale the other day, but no humpbacks yet. I have had a first glimpse of the Dotson Ice shelf and its massive glacier, quite impressive.

Minke Whale

 

We have managed to recover one mooring and to not recover another. What I described as the worst case scenario actually did happen. But since I am a rookie in this business I did not consider the possibility of recovering it in another way. It is actually possibly to drop a special hook from the boat, drag it along the bottom and hope the rig sticks to it. The mooring was clearly located with the ship´s sidescan sonar, standing up in it´s original position so it should be possible. If the MicroCATs can survive the beating is another question, but the other gear should handle it.

 Anna, a master of positive thinking, claims we will be able to recover it on our way back. And if not, this was our "cheapest" rig (no ADCP, old MCs) with the shortest time series, so it could have been a lot worse. 

The probable reason for the failed recovery is either the releasers theselves not functioning the way they should or the possibility that they got covered by a mudslide on the bottom. We will see how it goes later on our way back. Now I am just hoping that the weather stays so we can go on the promised helicopter ride.