In Search of Giant Squid
The pressure is on to get into the water. Odyssey and its associated
equipment has been in New Zealand for over a week, but only arrived in
Kaikoura today . . . There is quite a bit to do in a short period of
time.
Not only do we have to check all our equipment for shipping
damage, but we have some significant modifications to make to our boat,
the Tanekaha. The most important is to find a way to mount our
tracking system. We have a sonar transducer which has to be held
rigidly in the water, well below the depth of the keel. The mount has
to be sturdy enough to allow us to run at speeds up to 4 knots when in
the water, and at the same time be small and light enough that we can
pull it out of the water so we can make faster transits. Bob has put
together a design which we have taken to local welding shop to be
constructed.
Fortunately we do not seem to have suffered any significant shipping damage.
This is a big relief. On an earlier mission, we had a fork-lift skewer an
Odyssey shipping crate. Another time, shipping by land, our equipment arrived
looking as though it had been dragged behind a truck through a rock field. I
often get asked whether I'm worried about losing our vehicles at sea. Of
course I am. But shipping scares me much, much more.
A great description of the Odyssey, including wonderful photographs and graphics, is available on the National Geographic Society's Kaikoura Web Site. Look for the Odyssey's entry in the Crew section.
Smithsonian Giant Squid Overview Page
gene carl feldman / gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov