DAY 5: TWO SUCCESSFUL DROPS OF THE SLED
03.07.2008 At 1 AM this morning the G.O. Sars dropped its sled for the first time on this trip. The light on deck was if anything brighter, with more cloud-free sunshine, than it had been during the “day.”
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Text and photos by Courtney Flanagan
It becomes a real intellectual effort to say to oneself, "Time for bed" when it is so bright and cheerful out on deck in the middle of the night! In fact just before the sled drop, teacher Anna Karin Wallace saw a whale with her naked eye literally on the horizon line as she was working in the computer room (a room with a view!). The extremely calm seas we have been having of course not only help with whale sightings, but also make the sunny 1 AM seem even more pleasant! Only the chilly wind lets us know that we are in the Arctic!
The sled looks actually quite a bit like a large sled. In fact it functions as a giant sort of scoop with an open end and is dragged behind the ship on the sea floor. This sled drag was evidently quite successful for macrobiologists Paco and Cecilie. Since there were two drops, the scientists had to work identifying the material from 3:30, when the first sled came up, through the night until breakfast at 7:30. However, they found the work of carefully sorting through all of the mud to find the gathered organisms so engrossing that the time flew. They didn't realize they were tired until the work was over and they came up for breakfast.
Read more also for a wonderful interview the teachers had with FERNANDO BARRIGA
