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Revelle

Week 07 Location

R/V Roger Revelle Sampling at station 161, Broken Ridge (Indian Ocean), Week 07.

I5 Weekly Science Report 07

04 May 2009
R/V Roger Revelle
from
Jim Swift, SIO, Chief Scientist and
Greg Johnson, NOAA/PMEL, Co-Chief Scientist

32.0°S, 101.3°E; 0530 Z (1130 local);18.2°C (65°F); Winds 07 knots from NE; On station 161

We have enjoyed another week of remarkably fine weather, continued trouble-free science, excellent ship support, and tasty food - after 45 days at sea there is still lettuce in the salad! Probably because we have been close to a ridge (the Broken Plateau) a couple of pods of 40 or more pilot whales passed close by earlier this week. The work lights are attracting some big squid during night CTD stations, and when the water is still you can even see flying fish on occasion. Plus there are the intriguing By The Wind Sailors, colony animals like miniature Portuguese Man-o-Wars, which float by, some with "left" sails and some with "right" sails, apparently so that various populations mix.

Abrupt station-to-station changes in the water properties we measure are rare during most east-west hydrographic sections, so we enjoyed uncovering the signatures of some interesting mid-depth anticyclonic eddy-like features around the flanks of the Ninetyeast Ridge and sampling a solitary cyclonic eddy centered in the Subantarctic Mode Water over the Southwest Australian Basin during the past week.

It's been a week of anticipation. It's May, we have only 33 stations left to go, and the various cruise-time-remaining calculations indicate we are slightly ahead of schedule (as we should be, considering the wonderful weather over the past several weeks and perfectly-working equipment so far). We have a full day of sample analyses to complete after our final station is completed, but with Fremantle only 5-6 hours from that station, we might as well finish up the lab work at the dock. That plus the time gained from good luck gives rise to the cheery thought that we may be able to put ashore a bit early. Time will tell.

Derelict sailboat

The derelict sailboat Lunatic

It's also been a week of sober reflection on what the sea can bring. Last Tuesday, the Revelle brought up alongside a derelict ocean-going sailboat, the "Lunatic". The autopilot, wind generator, and solar panels were evidence of a boat that had been well prepared for a long voyage. She had been rigged for heavy weather last, with shortened sails (now tattered) and a sea anchor deployed. Marine life was clustered on the lines and hull in the water. The first mate and one of the ABs boarded the boat, retrieved a log book and some other items, and then cut the boat loose. We sailed on our way, quiet and thoughtful. Thanks to the internet it took only a minute or two to learn that Slovenian sailor Jure Sterk was making his 2nd solo around-the-world trip, on Lunatic, but sadly had not been heard from since early January (though the boat had been spotted at least once before we found it). The recovered items will be returned to his family.

Finally it has been a week for asking "What's next for our program?" R/V Roger Revelle was scheduled to carry out our "I7N" western Indian Ocean transect from Oman to South Africa during September-October this year. At the start of the current cruise, the planned track for I7N was thought to be sufficiently offshore of Somalia to be safe from pirates. However, recently attacks have occurred around the planned I7N track, and so the I7N cruise, and one for another program on Revelle in that region, were cancelled last week. This cancellation threw the ship schedulers, the Oversight Committee for the CO2/Repeat Hydrography Program, and the funding agencies into overdrive to quickly work out an alternate plan that was scientifically valid, efficient, and generally sensible. As we work towards finishing this cruise, those ashore are working towards a decision about what comes next.

All is well.


New Horizon

Robert G. Sproul