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Tosca, Indra, Anita and Connor onboard Om with the drifter buoy they will be deploying in the Atlantic Odyssey
Already 9 days at sea! So far, it has gone much more quickly then we
expected, as there always seems to be something to do, or see.
Tosca and Indra have been baking almost every morning, coming out with
brownies, banana bread, lemon cupcakes, lemon cake, banana cake, and
cooking has been on full throttle, as we want to eat as much of the
fresh vegetables and fruit as we can! A washing line has been hung over
the cockpit, and we have feasted twice on beautiful MahiMahi fish.
Yesterday, we almost caught something bigger… a huge shadow was
following the lure, but I think it discovered that the pink plastic
squid was not in fact, a squid. Thank goodness it didn’t grab onto it,
or we would no longer have a fishing line!
We’ve had 3 flying fish land on deck (all only discovered the following
day, so they were horribly dried up), and we have sighted two turtles.
We never see turtles in New Zealand, so it was so amazing seeing those
beautiful animals up close! We have heard from “Song Of the Sea” that
they saw a turtle tangled in netting. That was very sad to learn, when
you think of how many other turtles there must be in the ocean affected
by human waste. Thankfully the guys decided to stop and untangle it and
the turtles we have seen looked healthy, one we think very old as it had
barnacles growing over its shell.
Sea turtle spotted during Atlantic Odyssey crossing in 2013
So far, however, only one sighting of a plastic container. This doesn’t
necessarily mean that there isn’t plastic,as we have learnt from The
Ocean Pollution forum. I wonder how Sea Dragon is going with their tests
on micro plastics and toxins though, sometimes it scares me thinking of
so many tiny, tiny pieces of plastic floating through the sea. How we
can’t see them. But we swim in them, play in them, watch sea animals
live in them. Before leaving Lanzarote, we went on a beach clean up with
the Sea Dragon team, which was such a great experience. I’m so, so glad
we went, it was there, on the beach that I saw for the first time the
tiny colored pieces of plastic floating in little pools on the beach.
Washed up by the sea. I’d never seen that before, and it came as a
sudden shock, the realization of what the planet is becoming. I don’t
want my children to grow up going to the beach, finding plastic, and
swimming in it.
Some of the plastic found with the eXXpedition crew at Famara Beach in Lanzarote
There was almost more netting washed up on the beach then plastic. WHY
would fisherman want to throw nets into the sea? They fish from its
waters, and they abuse it. I think it just comes down to the fact that
some people perhaps can’t relate to the sea. They look at it, but they
can’t love it. Which is why I think that the science program for sailors
was such a great Idea. Sailors love the sea. They live on it. They watch
it, and breathe its fresh air. They are keen to contribute and raise
awareness.
Connor, Indra, Tosca and I have prepared the Secchi Disk. We had to
spray paint it white, as it was more of a grey but now it’s ready for
use. We got a reply from Pascal, giving us the position for the
deployment of the buoy, so when we pass the 50 degree longitudinal line,
we’ll write our names on it and throw it into the sea, watching it bob
away into the distance. We’re excited about being able to track down
where it is in the ocean, even when we go home!
We’ve had beautiful weather for a few days now – the trade winds are
starting to kick in! The swell and the wind is coming from behind, the
sky is blue and so is the sea. And the air is definitely getting warmer!
We are going at a constant speed of 7 knots during the day, but the wind
usually dies down at night. And we are heading straight for Martinique!
Will update on our life on board again soon.
From Connor and The Girls.
The young crew on Om are: Connor (16), Anita (15), Tosca (13) and Indra (9).
