User blog comment:Zathronas/Analysis by an author: Volume 2 episode 8: Field Trip/@comment-10380701-20140926075357/@comment-24891101-20140928005834

It could be both.

RWBY is initially doing their job, decently competently, but then something happens, separating them from the group (This'll be Zwei: either he gets scared and runs off, RWBY pursuing, or he smells something, and RWBY investigates). This leads to a hole in the Hunters' formation, letting something nasty through, which follows Our Heroes. Then, RWBY is caught out of position, suddenly finding themselves in the Straits of Messina, and only extricated by the intervention of Oobleck and possibly others. But as a result, the mission fails, because the Hunter team had to abandon it to save RWBY's lives.