Day 9 Go west!: Chantelle Cook

Yesterday afternoon, Chris and I had our engine room part two tour. It started off inside the drop keel! Due to the shallow depth of the Torres Strait, the drop keel needed to be lifted. Again, the sheer size of this thing was jaw dropping—the drop keel height is roughly the height of a double-storey house! We stood on the bridge inside it and watched as they brought it up a little. There are actually little fish living inside it, hiding from predators and catching a free ride.

Next, was the actual engine room. Ear plugs in, we headed in and checked out the ship’s roaring diesel heart. I know I keep going on about the size, but it really is almost beyond comprehension! Check out the photos, which really don’t do it justice!

This morning, we are safely through the Torres Strait. More James Bond moves from our pilot, who departed in the middle of the night. We are now cruising due west through the Gulf of Carpentaria, towards the Arafura Sea. We had another obscure land bird sighting this morning with a cattle egret passing on through. We also got to see a large school of tuna jumping from the water!

Later today, we did a live cross to the teacher STEMX conference in Darwin. They were very interested in the science on board, especially the bird species that we have sighted. It was an exciting opportunity to share what we have learnt so far.