Liberation

Posted by Dave at 10:00 AM, October 16, 2004

(C) Greenpeace

There is a sense of freedom when the view is 360 degrees of unobstructed horizon. It is a reminder of our smallness and insignificance. Out here, there is no doubt that nature has the upper hand. I suppose some people might feel unsettled to be out of sight of land, but for me it is liberation, I feel like I am in one of the few remaining wildernesses on Earth.

On my watch (0400 to 0800 and 1600 to 2000) we are endlessly scanning the horizon for bottom trawlers that fish on this range of seamounts. So far we have not found any boats, but the view is always spectacular. Heaving Atlantic swells reflect the pale low sun; showers pass hammering the wrinkles from the waves leaving them smoothed like old hills. The sky dominates us and is as mesmerising to watch as a fire.

This morning we hauled in the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR), which we have been towing for the past 450 nautical miles. The CPR houses twin silk screens spinning slowly and trapping plankton that can later be analysed in the laboratory. There is so little known and so much to learn about the oceans. If we don't understand the bottom of the food chain how can we hope to understand and protect the whole ecosystem?

- Madeleine, Chief Mate