On the first of November, five Explorer volunteers visited the Scottish Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen. The marine lab scheduled the science that Explorer was tasked with. John Dunn, ex-chief scientist on Explorer gave us a tour.
The net shop is the last remaining in Aberdeen. Here, rolls of net are assembled into a trawl net. This is a very skilled job as the shape of the net must fill out like a balloon when the trawl is deployed. Any weaknesses can cause the net to fail. In which case it will end up back here for repair.
This fish counter was displayed in the library. It is likely that it was used on Explorer to count the catch in the fish lab.
The engineering workshop manufactures various rigs for carrying various pieces of equipment such as TV cameras.
This map shows the areas of UK fishery responsibility. Explorer also operated outside these areas at times.
We were surprised to find on display in the library one of Captain James Cook’s journals. This must be priceless!
I should have taken more photographs, sorry. Many thanks to the staff of the marine laboratory and John Dunn for hosting us.
