Zachary Warburg - 15 October, 2009
The sea was rough in the morning, but by now it feels natural. It’s hard now to imagine walking on ground or sleeping on a bed not rocking back and forth. We waited for a time to put down the Neuston net and finally had an opportunity to see a clear sunset.
Josh Humphries (UNSW) - 14 October, 2009
1st watch
6:45am - 2pm
After yesterday’s minor hiccup we are on the homeward run up the south coast of NSW. Now that we have left behind the Bass Canyon, our sampling schedule has relaxed considerably.
Mattias – 13 October 2009
2nd watch
2pm – 2am
Another exciting and interesting 2pm – 2 am shift is coming to its end for our little team on the Southern Surveyor. The day was fine, the sea was calm and everyone was in good mood as the Southern Surveyor made its way through the Bass Strait.
Christopher Baiada (UTS) – 13 October, 2009
1st Watch
2am – 2pm
Today started with the sounding of my alarm at 1:45am for a 2 am start. Unlike other days were we would get up at 2 only to be told we could go back to sleep for a few more hours, today there was no chance of this as it is the last day we have to do any major sampling work before we supposedly set sail for Sydney at 10pm tonight.
Melissa Tan – 12 October, 2009
2nd watch
2pm -2am
The third day of our journey began well, with lots of specimens hauled up in the beam trawl net deployed during the morning.
Belinda McCarthy: 12 October, 2009
1st watch
2am – 2pm
After a false alarm start at 2am we got up at 5am to repeat neuston net and CTD drops, of which we are now all professionals. In order to improve our fish count we added another weight to drag down the net. This proved successful achieving three times our previous catches. This meant we caught 4 fish. Not exactly enough to perform experiments on but we were happy none the less.
Steven Hawes: 11 October 2009
2nd watch
2pm – 4am
You knew it was going to be a good day when upon awakening, we were given a souvenir water bottle and mug. Score! Having fast learned that coffee is an integral part of a marine science diet, these items will come in very handy.