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September 18, 2008

September 18, 2008

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I wake up at about noon to the boat rocking. While we’ve been navigating we’ve come across some choppy waters. I spend the rest of the night waking up occasionally to the bumpy ride.

When I wake up for breakfast, we’re already at Les Olives. But, there are some technical problems with the radar. We have to get to a port to try and fix it, and since we it’s always best to navigate at night with a good radar, we decide to get a move on towards the port of Palma, Mallorca. By 9 am we’re making our way back. Since we’re arriving in Palma a bit earlier than expected, people take the time during the ride to readjust schedules, plan work, and catch up on emails.

It takes us about 7 hours to arrive. During the trip I see many little flying fish (probably Hirundichthys rondeletii since they are the most common here) and a couple of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba). Once we arrive and dock in the port of Mallorca, the crew begins loading and unloading, cleaning and refilling things. The radar gets fixed.

I stay in the boat and work for a bit and then take advantage of being on dry land to go out and get some exercise. I went for a run along the Paseo Marítimo. However, I started feeling a little bit strange but was thinking, “how can this be? I’m on dry land?!”. To my surprise, my colleagues informed me I had what was known as “land sickness”. After being on a boat all these days, I couldn’t get that “rocking feeling” out of my body. We meet up with Lola, another diver who works with Oceana. Eventually my land sickness goes away, and my colleagues and I enjoy a nice dinner in Palma.

Back to the boat for bed, because at 4am we’re scheduled to sail back out to Les Olives to work with the ROV.

 

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