Team Mowbray 'Commitment' Expedition 2006-7

German 'Bird' Update
Wednesday January 10, 2007

An e-mail from the 'Polarstern' researchers ...

Hi there,

A few days ago we spotted your sailboat "Commitment" off the Antarctic Peninsula from a helicopter. Apologies if we surprised you a bit and for the delay in contacting you. As we are working from a boat internet access is not easy (as you probably know). We did take a picture of your internet address written on the boat and this is how I did get your contact details through my home institute. I also got a copy of your log book in which you are mentioning our visit - sorry if it caused you any problems. We tried to contact you on Channel 16 but for some reason this didn't work.

We are working off the German research "Polarstern" since November 22nd.

We started our cruise in Capetown and hope to reach Punta Arenas in Chile on January 31st. At the moment we are trying to reach the Larsen A and B area in the western Weddell Sea.

The helicopter is used to conduct surveys for cetaceans in Antarctic waters - so you can imagine our surprise when we "sighted" a sailboat.

We took some pictures, but as internet connection is slow I can only send you a couple in a small format. If you are interested though I'd be happy to send you the originals once we return.

If you are interested in what we do, here are some links:

• http://international-polar-year.de/Expeditionsberichte.38.0.html
• http://www.polarfoundation.org/
• http://www.cousteau.org/caml.html
• http://www.caml.aq/news/
• http://www.awi.de/Polar/Polarstern/report-index-d.html

Wishing you the best for the rest of this trip and all future adventures in this beautiful area,

Meike Scheidat