Southern Ocean Iron Experiment (SOFeX) Cruise
January 5 - February 26, 2002
Logbook
January 18, 2002: Day 14
Drifter: -55 56.3592 -171 55.5066
In Sediment Trap: -55 55.5369 -171 57.7626
Out Sediment Trap: -56 00.12-171 58.620
Ship: -56 2.814-172 0.2064
Ken Johnson writes: Well, this is my thirteenth report. Ships are superstitious places (no whistling as you might 'whistle up a storm') and things are running true to form.The Liquid Scintillation Counter that I said yesterday was fixed, isnt.The SeaSoar has failed three times today, twice repaired and theyre recovering it now for, hopefully, the third repair job.And we hear the Liquid Scintillation Counter on MELVILLE has also failed before leaving port.I hope that this is the end of the thirteenth report bad news section.
Otherwise, things are going well scientifically.Weve finished adding iron to the patch, the small fish we tow to depress the iron injection tubes under the surface have picked up a nice orange iron oxide coating.Since we finished adding iron at 4 am this morning, weve been towing the SeaSoar across the patch to map the vertical and horizontal distribution of plankton and chemicals.
Things otherwise on board are a little slow.We have NFL playoff scores, but the details are a little thin.We get a brief daily news report of world events, but each item is about two lines.The lack of sports information has us looking at some unusual sources.Were 'down under' and the most recent sport news is this cricket magazine that found its way aboard.Im still trying to figure out what a 'baggy green' is.
Well, the SeaSoar should be back on board by now.I need to run off and see what the diagnosis is and then figure out what well be doing for the rest of the evening.
