To Cap Verde! Newsletter 6
Dato 25.9.2006
To Cap Verde!
25 September 2006
Turtle stroke
Saturday 23 September was clear sailing. First priority was to make headway with as few delays as possible.
The sea is blue here. Surprisingly blue, many of us think. Yet the dark azure surface yields few signs of life, so that many of the researchers spent the day in the labs, at their computers or on deck, combining business with pleasure: turtle-spotting.
We have all been instructed in the procedure should there be a sighting. The shout must go up "TURTLE!” This is followed by an announcement on the PA system: ‘All relevant personnel to Lillebror’ (the MOB dinghy). It is launched, net and cameras at the ready, hearts in mouths.
Photograph Rane Baadsgaard Lange, The Danish Expedition Foundation
The first turtle alert. ‘ it was just here…..’
They gave the alert three times on Saturday, and the routine was carried out twice. But the turtles were evasive. Two of the three alerts may have been sightings of green sea turtles – the third a plastic bag with a remarkable resemblance to a turtle… Still, the turtle seekers hold their heads high – and their gaze fixed on the water. They’re out there, somewhere…
Xenia and Alf from the ‘Parasites in zooplankton’ project were in good spirits. The day’s catch had brought up a hitherto unknown parasite (Blastodinium) on a type of crab.
Research under the stars
At midnight, the pelagic (or mid-water) trawl net was cast to about 650 metres’ depth. Two and a half hours later, it was pulled in again. The catch was of special interest to the ‘Marine Carbon Cycle’ project. Their brief is to register and analyse all possible parameters of value to the carbon cycle in and over the oceans. This includes the exchange within marine organisms, small and large. Researchers prefer fish to be caught with full stomachs. Fish forage after dark on the whole, thus the late rendez-vous. Several people set their alarm clocks to come up and see the catch under the clear night sky….
Photograph Rane Baadsgaard Lange, The Danish Expedition Foundation
The night catch is inspected. Shortly it will be stored in the freezer for further investigations...
The catch was a good one. Expedition members who were on board when catches were made at similar depths in the North Atlantic say that these fish are similar. Bright red crabs, tiny cuttlefish, other very strange small fish and a single, somewhat larger predatory fish with a serious set of sharply pointed teeth.
The catch is all sent to the freezer so that analyses can be made later.
A red-letter day
Sunday 24 December was a special day for two people – Captain Carsten Schmidt and his wife Ragnhild who is on board ship for the Azores – Accra stretch. They were celebrating 40 years of marriage. On the morning of their Ruby wedding anniversary they woke up to a work of art – an archway over the door, made from a piece of Triaxus wire – and were hailed by a somewhat rusty men’s choir ….. This was followed by coffee in the Captain’s dining room.
Photograph Eivind Andreasen, VDRN
A remnant of trawl wire, six flags and two balloons. Voila! Congratulations!
The project with an interest in parasites carried out a plankton trawl using the dogme net – an allusion to the well-known film genre - which are hand held and need neither crane nor winch. At 9.00 hours a CTD cast took place – aiming for a 4,000 metre cast. In addition, the daily weather balloon was sent up by researchers from Risø National Laboratory. The balloon takes wind speed, humidity and temperature measurements for the carbon cycle project.
Photograph Rane Baadsgaard Lange, The Danish Expedition Foundation
The weather balloon is launched.
Today, Monday we have ploughed on southwards, accompanied by flying fish. The turtle spotters on the bridge have seen a hammerhead! The Cape Verde islands appeared on the horizon a couple of hours ago: the ‘Action Stations’ drill has been practised, a precaution which no doubt pays homage to bygone pirates
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