But just at the very edge of our radar range the mate on watch (Dave) saw the factory ship alter course to the east. A less skilled radar operator might not have noticed the change in course - something the whalers had probably been counting on.

Ironically, if they had just kept going north a little while longer then we wouldn't have known to turn east. Fortunately, their cockiness gave us an edge, and Dave passed his crucial info on to Vincent - who stood the next watch with Arjen.

On Vincent's watch we came across a huge field of icebergs - over a hundred of them. So, we started checking iceberg after iceberg in low visibility. Slow work, which paid off when we came across the Nisshin Maru floating near a small berg with its lights off. On the radar they looked just like another chunk of ice, and likely thought they could pretend to be one. Too bad for them we already know that trick.

Once discovered, the Nisshin Maru put its lights on, but stayed drifting waiting for morning.

Twice, we watched on the radar as a catcher emerged from hiding behind an iceberg to rendezvous with the factory ship. Each time we assume they were dropping off a whale, but they were too far away for us to tell for sure.

At the end of the day, we are still in contact with the whaling fleet, and preparing ourselves for whatever comes tomorrow.