06-01-03

 

Len, John and Rhian, cold but happy. Another start in the dark for the well insulated team of volunteers that assembled on Monday January 6th for a busy day at sea.

The shipping forecast hadn't filled us with confidence that we'd be able to get out and collect the PODs.  Luckily, conditions, though a little rough, didn't present any serious problems.

Because this was our first attempt at servicing and checking the PODs we were prepared for disaster.  Thankfully, all the knots, ropes and anchor chains had held, and all but POD 109 (Kenfig) were exactly where we'd dropped them (POD 109 had wandered 200m with the tide).  [POD location map - PDF]

We started with POD 171 (Burry Holm), as we wanted to move it further inshore, something that could only be done at the highest point of the tide.  We then worked round to the other PODs, checking them, replacing batteries, etc.

There was a problem downloading data from PODs 171 and 148.  The possibility that there is a fault in 171 was considered, however, after resetting it, we decided to give it another two week trial.  POD 148 was removed for servicing.
Robin, wet but smiling on...
PODs 149 and 129 (Pot Eynon & Port Talbot) provided some interesting data but, sadly, hadn't recorded as much as we had hoped.  Settings were checked, tweaked and checked again before the PODs were dropped back to the sea bed for another two weeks of testing.

 

Port Talbot from the sea

POD 109 had recorded so much activity that it took twenty minutes to download onto our trusty laptop!  After a day of partial success, this was a wonderful surprise.  As the screenshot (below) shows, the POD analysis software detected regular, clear signals that had a high (red) and moderate (yellow) chance of being made by porpoise.

 

POD 109 screenshot of analysis

We now know that the Kenfig area is used by porpoise regularly (practically daily) and it is important to them.  This is really exciting as it shows that our aim of piecing together a picture of how and when porpoise use our coast is both practical and achievable using the PODs in this way.

 

Swansea Sunset. Tidy.

 

The team. Cold, tired and cheerful.