Hey All,
Now 5 days into his new mission, Silbo is making some slow progress as he reluctantly leaves the sunny shores of Gran Canaria behind.
As we get back into the swing of things, we have been working on covering all of our bases: ocean models, bathymetry maps, battery plots and means of monitoring biofouling.
Silbo has covered roughly 100km in 5 days, however he is slowing down the further south we go. This is due to an average northern flux that we are slowly entering, resulting in the gradual slowing we have seen.
ocean currents provided by Antonio Ramos and ULPGC
Real Time Ocean Forecasting System Sea Surface Height and Currents
As displayed in the two images above, I proposed to move the way point to the east to try and get us into more friendly currents.
It is crucial that we try and get back to the south east at first, as these northward currents persist for nearly the entire water column
Finally, Silbo has become the first glider to navigate both Arctic AND Antarctic Waters!
The image above is from Antonio Ramos, showing the temperature of the water at roughly 900m below the surface. The purple and blue jets we are seeing are bands of Antarctic Intermediate Water that rises from the deep ocean in this region.
Force Wind Sea and Honor
Antonio & Nilsen