Sampling and Swimming

Today has been a true day of tropics sailing (some would prefer the term motoring). There’s been in and around 5 knots of wind all day. In the morning, all the squares and staysails were set, and we decided to trawl.  

During the first trawl, the deck team set a stunsail. During the second, we decided to play a game that had been a long time coming. 9 months ago, I sailed onboard, collecting microplastic samples for my master’s degree. Ayla, the deckhand, had been onboard and came up with a plan to play a trawling game/ prank on the scientists. She had asked the chippy to cut 60 individual squares of lightweight wood and hand sanded all the corners. Ayla then asked me to number them from 1 – 6 and draw animals of different groups on them. No-one had any idea what this was for. For one reason and another, the game had never been played and therefore forgotten. When the wooden chips resurfaced in the library on this trip, I asked Ayla what they were for. She finally spilt the beans and let me in on the secret of the game. We decided to play it on our next trawl- bringing us to this morning.

We gathered everyone we could on the foredeck and got them to partner up. Each group was given a set of the tiles – be it starfish or penguins – and told to toss them overboard, aiming for the mouth of the trawl. Don’t worry- these chips were all made of wood and carefully sanded not to rip the net. Teams took it turns, then all at once, watching their chips drift aft. 

When we collected the sample, 19 of the 60 chips had been caught. The rest had drifted away for a life at sea. The net was full of life. During the third and final deployment, we began to sort the samples. All organisms big enough went on a paper to be photographed. All plastics went into a small vial. Everything biological then went into a sample pot with ethanol for preservation. These samples will make their way to the Netherlands where they will be analysed in a laboratory. The species caught will be identifies and type of plastic determined. This data will contribute to better understanding the spread of microplastics throughout our oceans. 

I will attach a picture of the trawl contents. They included by the wind sailors, violet snails, sea skaters, juvenile flying fish, many things I have no hope of identifying, and – most excitingly – a baby squid! This is a catch far more bountiful than those we previously have collected. It is a sign that we are moving south to waters rich in nutrients. It is a good sign for seabirds and cetaceans, although no guarantees can ever be made with wildlife. The abundance and diversity of life will never cease to amaze me.  

After the trawls were in, we heard the order no sailor is ever happy about, to take down the sails. We were turning the engine on. The deal was sweetened, however, by the promise of an afternoon swim stop. At lunch, we put the clock an hour back to match New Zealand time, tidies up the deck, and hopped overboard for a refreshment. The water was now cool – on previous swim stops it had felt like being in a bath – and we took turns jumping from the sloop deck, trying to catch a foam rugby ball the deckhands had bought in Fiji. I lay back and floated, watching Europa’s masts roll from the corner of my eye, as people laughed and played. 

Returning to this moment, a crowd had gathered around Nick. Hans has joined on the fiddle and Amel has brought the snacks out. The only thing that could make this day better is a bit of wind so we could turn the darn engine off and sail a little!