Transit to Walters Shoal!
During any oceanographic expedition, there is always a transit time from when the boat leaves the starting port and the moment when the studied site is reached. For the Walters Shoal expedition, this transit time lasts for around 3 to 4 days. This is when most of the operations are prepared and organized.
Safety always comes first: The CMA-CGM crew are in charge of giving us a briefing on the overall safety rules on board, soon followed by an abandon ship procedure that took place during the Wednesday afternoon.
Several meetings with Hélène Leau responsible of scientific operations for IPEV and the ship's captain also take place all throughout the day to ensure everything is in place.
On the divers’ side, Line Le Gall prepares the dive gear with her team. The scuba tanks (10, 12, 15 and 18l in volume) are filled with air (21% O2). They will be used by divers and also for the underwater suction tools to carry out benthic operations. Other tanks (3l and 6l) will be filled with enriched air (Nitrox) and used for decompression stops and to facilitate desaturation upon ascent. At the rear of the vessel, the ‘Diodon’ speed boat (Fun Yak) that will be used for all diving operations is ready.
Our "Hyperbar doctor" Antoine is ready, the hyperbaric chamber as well...
One deck above, Jean-Francois Barazer is sewing, among other things… He is preparing and checking the state of the nets with Alice Leblond and Jhen-Nien Chen, and the devices that will be submerged for benthic samplings, the trawl nets and the beam trawl.
Nicolas Le Viavant is taking care of the CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth). He is currently fixing the altimeter and the fluorimeter.
Adrien Berne is testing the glider for passive acoustic studies…
The benthic team that will work in the lab sorting the collected samples, taking photographs of these and determining the specimens is almost fully operational. They are waiting for a quieter time, most probably the arrival on site, to get the microscopes out on the tables, to prevent them from falling over due to the transit swell! Safety first!
Caution is also advised for the pelagic team who must prepare plankton nets (vertical and sideways) and the mesopelagic net. The container that keeps the gear must be brought down from the upper deck. For now however, this manipulation is postponed, due to strong winds and swell. While adjustments are being made, one operation is already underway.
Our marine mega fauna observers, Hélène Gadenne and Anjara Saloma, have been working since yesterday, from dawn until dusk. Today, though, April 28th, they are taking a break…when winds are higher than 25 knots, visibility is bad, observations must be halted…
