Whales, Fishing, and Survey

So, we are still surveying different areas around Chirikof Island. We spotted more than 40 whales yesterday. There are huge pods feeding just off the coast of Chirikof. The whales don't breach very often, so it's hard to get pictures, but I got a few.

A lot of the crew has been spending time fishing. The catch has been mostly halibut and cod. Our stewards were kind enough to take the some of the catch and cook it up for us.

I have been on the night processing shift as of late. This job entails taking the data from the launches and processing it right after they come back to the ship. There are many different steps needed to process the data.

WHALES
Here are the few pictures I got of the whales. It is incredible to walk out on the fantail and see spouts everywhere you look. A few of my shipmates got to see a whale come right up to the launch when they were out surveying.

FISHING
Almost everyday that we've had nice weather, several of my shipmates have been on the fantail fishing after work.

Will catching a halibut

Right after dinner, the guys go straight to fishing

Gaffing the fish

A rockfish

A lot of halibut has been caught

Halibut and cod

Photo op of the day - John and his fish

SURVEY
We have been having some rough weather lately. The swells have been up to 10ft and the winds at about 30 knots. Today is the first calm day we've had in a while. The temperatures have been very cold, and the wind makes everything seem colder. It definitely feels like we are in Alaska.

As stated earlier, I have been on night processing this week. My shift starts at 1300 and ends at 2100 (usually). We wait for the launches to come back with their acquired data and begin processing.

Processing data involves many different steps. First the data needs to be converted into a usable format. Once this is done, we apply correctors (true heave, tides, etc.). After this, the data is cleaned. It can take a long time to clean the data but the end result is pretty cool.

Alaskan waters can be rough

One of our launches coming back to the ship after a long day of surveying

Doroba on the bow ready to throw the line

Not always an easy job

One launch acquired 31 lines then were converted, processed, and cleaned

As always, we have had the most beautiful late sunsets. I could fill albums full with the amount of sunset pictures I've taken. Here are a few more. Most of these pictures were taken around 2330.

Some nights are calm

Sunset at Chirikof Island

Some are not calm

6-7 foot swells, 25 knot winds

We will be heading to Seward, AK late tonight. We will spend about 9 days at port in Seward. During this time I will probably be working on my HIC Workbook. A HIC is the Hydrographer in Charge. It takes a long time to get qualified, but they thought it might be beneficial for me to go through the workbook, especially if I end up working on a hydro ship again.