Acoustics monitored for
whale sounds during the night as we surveyed north and then east. No
whales were heard. The visual team was on watch by 12:00 UTC. The
latest ocean color image indicates the cyclone may have moved
slightly northward. So, we changed course to move northward and then
westward. At approximately 16:00 UTC we launched RHIB-1 with the
tagging team and RHIB-2 with the photo-id team. The two boats fanned
out on either side of Gyre to extend the range of the area in which
we listened for sperm whales.During the
afternoon, we encountered a group of what appeared to be 5 sperm
whales. All were too small to tag, with the largest approaching
about 7.5 meters. In contrast to animals on previous days, these whales
allowed the small boat to approach closely even though the seas were
rough and the RHIB-1 consequently made noisy approaches. Biopsies
were obtained on 3 of the whales, and photo-ids were taken of 2
animals, one of which also was biopsied.
XBT data indicated we were most likely getting
into the cyclone when we were with the whales, with the depth of the
15C isotherm being at 185 meters at the end of the day in contrast to 203
meters in early morning. The 38 kHz fishery echo sounder was on for most
of the time we were with the whales, and the 3-D tracking array
collected additional tracking data. The software program Whale Track
II is working well and is proving to be very useful. It nicely
meshes the visual and acoustic observations into one data base
visible by both teams.
The RHIBs were recovered and the arrays and
echo sounder were all on board by about 01:30 UTC on 19 June 2005.
We took a final XBT, and began our steam toward Harbor Island.
Our position at 02:42 UTC on 19 June 2005 is
27 01.285'N 95 30.233'W.
