Day 22 – 23: Choppy seas
A 12 hour lumpy transit makes for a very quiet day as we head to the East Coast. I’m horizontal for a lot of it as computer work just isn’t helping the nausea levels. By 6pm we’ve made it, and people start reappearing from their cabins. We make a plan for the next day when the weather is due to be calmer.
Day 23-24: In zone
Today we finally survey a seamount within New Zealand waters. We always wanted to make it here, but the weather was wild and this turns out to be our one opportunity. This area out on the East Coast of the North Island is known to have cold water methane seeps – highly sensitive environments that we’re keen to document.
Our lead scientist gets us almost immediately to the right spot on the seabed, and there’s a lot of excitement as we see all the markers of the presence of seeps. We see some incredible sights down here in the deep, and plan for another dive in the afternoon.
We realise that today might be our last operational one. We’ve done what we came to do. After many days having the unique privilege to view the habitats of the deep, I realise I’m going to miss it. That first cup of tea won’t feel quite the same without a mystery coral to identify alongside it.
And just like the end of every other ship voyage I’ve experienced, there’s the bittersweet feeling that comes in realising the tiny ecosystem created by a specific set of people in the middle of the sea will never be recreated the same.
We begin our last transit to Wellington. Bags are packed and onward travel is booked. Hard drives are populated, phone numbers exchanged. After over a year of planning, talking and procuring – it’s over.
The next phase – analysing the findings and releasing them – begins as soon as everyone’s had a chance to sleep and feel dry land. And for me, having had a tiny window into the wonders of the deep, I feel more determined than ever to fight for their protection.
At home and far out to sea, our oceans are being plundered for profit by the fishing industry through bottom trawling. But what is bottom trawling and why is it so destructive to ocean habitats?
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