Kind Weather

View aft from the crow's nest

Conditions: We had sea state 0 to 1 for many hours this morning and we found ourselves 150nm WSW of Mizen Head at first light. The swell was low all day and the sea state crept up to a 4. Daylight was quenched quickly (just in time for dinner rather conveniently) by a veil of ominous looking clouds.

Sunrise on 30 January 2011, 150nm WSW of Ireland

Sightings: Early sightings helped me overcome the mental anguish (having my forgotten my toothbrush: ironically the pub conversation the night before leaving was mostly about teeth, I brought floss & toothpaste, and I find myself in a place called The Seabight). The First sighting was of a patterned dolphin species, but I couldn't nail the ID. Soon after a distant group of bottlenose dolphins and then a group of striped dolphins (4). Just as we left the Seabight and slipped over the abyssal plain, a mother-calf pair of fin whales was spotted about 2km away. The rest of the day was quiet apart from an active group of striped dolphins (15) trying desperately to avoid the ship it would seem. These are noticeably smaller than common dolphins and are considered a warm water species... the sea temperature is 12C here at present. 

Striped Dolphins

Acoustic Survey: In the early morning, between seven and half past seven, two groups of dolphins were detected, however it was not possible to identify those to specie level, because It was still dark to carry out the visual survey, which could have confirmed the specie ID. All the afternoon was really quiet, while at around eight in the evening another group of dolphin was recorded. As soon as dolphin whistles were heard, characteristic clicks from Sperm Whale appeared on the spectrogram as well. It is not the first time that Sperm Whale and dolphins have been recorded together. It was expected to have encounters of Sperm Whale, because we are actually in very deep waters (4635 m), which are perfect habitat for this species due to its deep diving behaviour. The hydrophone is still in the water but the situation seems to be very quiet at the moment.

Seabird Survey: It was a quiet day up on the bridge as well for the seabird survey. I saw kittiwakes and northern fulmars scattered throughout the day, but mostly in the morning. During the CTD drop we passed by a little Atlantic puffin sitting on the water, looking nervous about the big ship looming above him (pardon the personification). Some stray pieces of garbage floated by as well, plastic bottles, balloons and bits of foam all find their way out here. The calm water and clear sky made for good visibility throughout the day... if only we had more birds to see!