October 14, 2024
We just had a brief stop in Papeete, Tahiti, which gave us a nice chance to walk on solid ground after these first two weeks at sea. I took the chance to go to Plage Lafayette—one of Tahiti’s unique black-sand beaches—and had a great time swimming and sunbathing with Neda, one of the crew members. Suddenly, I saw big splashes about 200 m offshore…two beautiful humpback whales were breaching! They put up such a spectacular show, with flapping flippers and splashing! What an incredible moment!
Deployment of the float Thingamajig by Lovenio Soriano and Charlie Bate. Photo by Isa Rosso
A few hours before reaching Papeete, we deployed our 5th float (Float-ID #22365 on October 12 at 12º S, 156º W). It was named Thingamajig by the Stage 5 Marine Studies and Year 11 Earth and Environmental Science students at the Richmond High School in Richmond, NSW, AU. After too many great suggestions for the name to pick, they chose this one because “it was funny and a good compromise between the other names.” I added a stingray to the design, as something that reminded me of Tahiti.
The float Thingamajig! Photo by Isa Rosso
À bientôt, Tahiti! Photo by Isa Rosso
Unfortunately, at the moment the float does not show a working CTD instrument (the one that measures temperature, conductivity (from which salinity is computed), and depth). Sometimes magic happens and things start to work again. Hopefully, this will be the case for Thingamajig. So, stay tuned!
About the Author—Isa Rosso is a hybrid physical oceanographer with extensive experience in numerical models, ocean observations, and satellite data, with a deep passion for being at sea, where she can truly experience the power and beauty of our oceans.