Today we started with mooring operations. The moorings are long, in this case 1500m, steel cables with instruments on them and buoyancy on top. An acoustic release is fitted between the cable and the anchor on the seafloor. Once the ship is in position we transmit a signal to the release. It then releases the anchor and the buoyancy floats to the surface bringing the instruments with it.

There are twelve of these moorings to be picked up during the cruise. This morning we got the first one on deck. Four more are nearby and we hope to pick them up today and tomorrow. All the instruments will be serviced (data read out, batteries replaced) and then we’ll redeploy the moorings at the same location. They’ll be measuring the currents for another year.