From the Captain Garry McKechnie 08/03/06

After spending the night at anchor off Great Keppel Island we steam a short distance to the first of three dive sites for the day. By 0930 our divers are in the water at Halfway Island. They are greeted by an extensive landscape of bleached staghorn corals. The Keppel Islands have been affected most severely by the current bleaching event. (see Paul Marshall's diary for more detail)

Our indigenous trainees are progressing well with the diving under Marina's instruction and are obviously enjoying the challenge. In between dives they are working with Ini, Johnson and myself as deckhands, filling tanks, checking levels, learning knots and cramming a variety of new skills and experience into every day. Most importantly from my point of view they are working really well as part of the team. (see their own daily logs for their direct feedback.)

Our second and third dives for the day are at Middle and North Keppel Islands respectively. At each site the corals appear to be under severe stress. By 1600 everyone is back on board Pelican discussing plans and weather for the coming days. Up till now we have had calm overcast days which are ideal for the work. Not too hot and not too much sun burn. Occasional rain showers have provided welcome relief from the heat and washed Pelican's decks clean.

The main drawback with the constant cloud cover is that we cannot duplicate light conditions that would be present when satellite images of the reef are taken. This is important to support the work being done by Magnus, Chris and David on understanding Satellite images. They are using an impressive array of instruments to collect data about light and colours in the air and at various depths above the reef. This data is then compared with satellite images for the same position to verify precisely what the different colours on the images mean. This is vital work that will enable scientists to monitor vast areas of reef with precision from the comfort of their living rooms. (see web diaries for more detail)

In a rising wind I am checking the weather forecasts via the web when the phone rings. It is Lee from North Keppel Island Environmental Education Centre (NKIEEC). He has located us on the web and phones to see if we are in the area. As it happens we are about a mile from where the NKIEEC staff are conducting a program with forty year 11 students from Qld. We agree to go over and give a talk about our work. We are immediately impressed with the centre, their program and the quality of students they seem to attract. I introduce our team and give a short overview of the expedition. Paul, Chris and Magnus present images and data collected earlier the same day and answer numerous questions from the students. We depart having made some new friends and promising to return.

Back aboard Pelican we prepare for our first rough crossing of the expedition. Gear is stowed, hatches are secured, and sails are reefed. We steam away from the anchorage at North Keppel at 2200 and raise sail as we clear the island to the east. Our next sites are at the remote Swain Reefs about 110 nautical miles north east. Strong SE to E winds (up to 25 or 30 Knots) have been forecast for the next week. We are hoping the maze of coral reefs surrounding our research sites in the Swains will afford us sufficient shelter to continue the work. Pelican pushes into a SE chop with reefed main, mizzen and staysl. Ini sets a watch schedule and most of the crew hit their bunks after a long day. Long but good.