This bulletin is the first since 10 March. All members of Saya expedition 2002 are fine. I am sorry about the break in transmission, which is a consequence of our being unable to send email over the satillite phone.
Bulletins over the next week to 10 days will provide an interim report of what is being achieved at Saya. The bulletins will be short because of the method of transmission - by voice over the phone to England - is necessarily slower than email. Many thanks to Sue Guest for doing the transmission!
I will send more bulletins about the period 11 March to date, when I return to Seychelles on 30 March or earlier, and am able to access an email link.
Sailing yachts Ophee, Vaka-Lele and Ceres leave Victoria in the Seychelles on Monday 11 March. They sail SE approx 400 nautical miles to the North Bank of Saya de Malha. The ship Orphee with Wolf Hilbertz, Gabriel Despaine, Frank Gutzeit and Pete Lucas on board, arrives first, at about 3 pm Thursday 14. The location is near the southern end of the eastern side of Saya North Bank at 9 degrees 12 mins. south, 60 degrees 20 mins. east. The water is around 14 Metres (43 feet) deep. The crew find the small triangular structure put in place in March 1997 and they attach a marker buoy. Ships, Vake-Lele and Ceres arrive at around 3.30 am on Friday 15.
We all rest for a few hours. Then divers inspect the old structure to determine its condition. They report that it appears to have fallen on its side and is covered in a thin layer of accretion. Most of the corals that were attached to it in 1997 seem to have died or fallen off.
The divers also survey the seabed near to the old structure in order to find a place where steel for the new structure maybe placed without harming living corals. They find a suitable area of sea grass and sand just a few meters away, and Orphee deposits around half a tonnes of steel bars.
Caspar Henderson
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