Trawls are commonly used to collect fish in fisheries research. They are also a very common way of fishing commercially for pelagic species (like the Russian trawlers we are seeing fishing for mackerel). The trawl being used to capture the post-smolts is not huge like those on a commercial vessel and is designed to stay on [...]
Just as we thought we had hit our northernmost position, we turned back north and this morning arose to find ourselves at 68°10’N. The first haul of the morning was quite successful so the turn back north seems to be the right decision for finding the post-smolts. We got 50 in our first haul and [...]
Explorers Club Flag #81 at 68 degrees North
With an early start to the day (0500), back up to the north, the CTD was in the water. The trawl was in and fishing by 0600 for a three hour tow. At 0900, the tow came up and was as expected with a nice concentration of post-smolts although they are quite small. The trawl [...]
One thing I find interesting on this cruise is that we only sample in so-called daytime hours. Despite the fact that we are above the Arctic Circle and have 24 hours of sunlight, the fish still sense the change in time of day. It is not the darkness that determines the fish behavior but the [...]
In the early morning (0330), We reached the anticipated northernmost point of the cruise, 67.5°N, the starting point for the sampling. The cruise plan was to head to this point and see what we find. If we found a large number of salmon, we would continue north. So with a CTD done and a plankton [...]
As many people know, I set strange goals for myself. One was to set foot on the seven continents before I was 25, I did this…Well going below the Antarctic Circle and above the Arctic Circle before I am 30 is another of these goals. With passing the Arctic Circle this evening at 10:43, I [...]
I woke up to a foggy morning with calm seas. We started the day around 63°N and continue to steam north. The water temperature is a balmy 8.5°C (47°F) and the air temperature is around 10°C (50°F). The winds are calm so the fog seems to be sticking with us but the wind is supposed [...]
I arose to a beautiful calm morning on the North Atlantic with the Hebrides to the east of the ship. We are moving at quite a fast clip up to our sampling area, cruising at around 14 knots. We have a southerly wind behind us adding to our speed and the calm seas are helping [...]
After a day of running around Killybegs getting our final medical certificates needed to go on the voyage, we were back on the ship and ready to set sail for the Norwegian Sea. Before setting sail, we took the tender, the Tom Crean, out for spin to get some shots of the ship from the [...]