steaming home full throttle. In total, we deployed 149 CTDs and took
just short of 1750 samples, all within what, 4 weeks. As us night
shifters milked the bottles for the last time, a wave of relief swept
over us, but also a strange feeling of "what am I going to do now?".
Having basically sampled for 4 weeks non-stop, I'm sure I will dream
of CTDs for the next few days or so, but am so relieved that I can
finally try and return my sleeping pattern to normal, and actually
socialise with all onboard.
Today, I had my first proper dinner of the voyage, having skipped it
for the past weeks due to the crazy times of the shift. It was so
strange to see so many people eating at once; there is usually just a
few of us at breakfast and lunch so I don't get to see that many
people. With all the marine science work done, the time for relaxing
is upon us. Tomorrow we are having a fancy dress party with an
obvious "ocean" theme so everybody has been busying themselves
fashioning costumes from whatever they can find. We are also having
our initiation for crossing the Antarctic Circle tomorrow...a tad
late, but better late than never. I'm a tad scared about this as a
few rumours are being spread around - I will let you know what
happens...
In addition to the excitment with freedom at last, there was a sudden
frenzy to heli-deck as the firstmate announced over the tannoy that
there was a deal whale floating by. I happened to be on deck anyway,
and floating by was a baby humpback whale. It was pretty sad, but
equally fascinating. I think it had only recently died as the body
seemed fairly intact.
I don't think I will bother with the usual stats anymore as the trip
back isn't half as interesting. Instead, I will provide a countdown
of nautical miles to Hobart.
Nautical Miles until Hobart: 1,106
Sea sickness: None
Wildlife: Dead baby humpback whale
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