Back in the swing of things

25 May 2019

The weather has finally died down and that means we’re straight back to work. An earlier morning Gavia AIUV survey kicked the day off, returning to the release site to investigate what the site looks like now the gas flows been stopped.

The afternoon was spent picking up the CO₂ tank. This was done by first releasing a float attached to the rig via a long rope that we were then able to hook on the surface and attach to the ship’s huge A-frame. This is a rather sad moment as it represents the end of our experiment here in the North Sea… but on the bright side it also represents how well everything has gone over the last few weeks. We were able to simulate a deep-sea CO₂ seep because of this big hunk of metal and gas, shame it’s too big to fit in a trophy cabinet really.

Fishing for the float

And here’s the CO₂ rig, back on the ship having done sterling service

Tomorrow we’re all set for an offsite Gavia survey and a daring rescue of the long-lost baseline lander.