Hi guys,
I’m now on my way to Heard Island. I flew out from Sydney on Friday at 7pm and will arrive in Cape Town 9:05am Saturday 5th March, local time.
The next 4 days are all about getting final provisions and then loading all of the expedition equipment onto the Braveheart, the boat that will take us from Cape Town to Heard Island. The boat trip should take about 10 days and along the way we will deploy several ocean “drift buoys” for NOAA and Woods Hole Research. Your teachers have some some useful internet sites to look at that explain what the drift buoys are all about. See if you can find a web site that displays a dynamic graphic of the ocean currents.
When we arrive at Heard Island the first few days will be all about setting base camp and making sure we are safe and secure as the weather on Heard Island can be extreme. Winds up to 100kph are quite common.
Once the base camp is established my job will be to focus on completing as much of the scientific programme work possible over the 21 days we are scheduled to be on the island. Hopefully we get some good weather I get out and about as much as possible. Keep coming back to this blog site – I’m planning to provide you regular “phone in” with audio updates on what I’m up to and where on the island I’m off to next. You might want to find a detailed map of the island so you get some idea of where we are when we call in.
I’ve also got your list of questions about the Penguins. I spent some time with Dr Grahame Budd over weekend. He has been to Heard Island 8 time previously and he’s given me some insight on where to go looking for the penguin colonies near base camp and on the Laurens Peninsula.
I hope you enjoy the video, photo’s and phone updates over the next 5 weeks.
Check back in a few days – I’m sure there will a news update by then., I’ll just keep adding new photo’s, vide and stories below for you to look through.
Gavin
4th March
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