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 now the next one is out so it should be interesting to see what we come up with.

The seas are still smiling upon us, as it is calm.  We saw our first glimmers of sun in a few days as well but we are in a blanket of fog.  Hopefully by midday, it will burn off and we will have the perfect day at sea…this may be wishful thinking…I am quite satisfied with the calm seas and lack of wind. 

We came about for the second trawl of the day and headed back north in an attempt to stay in the high concentration of smolts.  The numbers were not as good so we are heading back south. 

The floats of the trawl coming on deck.

The sun never came back out after noon so the RV Celtic Explorer was in a little bubble of fog for most of the day.  There was not much to see so it was a perfect opportunity to catch up on some inside work and get ready for tomorrow, the final day of sampling.  I got some great shots of the deck work, and look forward to wrapping up the sampling tomorrow.  (Special thanks to all of the deck crew, especially Ken who helped me take the above shot from the gantry.)