RV Laura Bassi. Photo: Lana Young
Case study: Scaling up vessel-based research in the Ross Sea
The Ross Sea plays a key role in global ocean circulation through Antarctic Bottom Water formation. It is also one of the most diverse and productive parts of the Southern Ocean, supporting many iconic species such as whales, penguins, seals, and seabirds. The region is integral to the Antarctic toothfish fishery and hosts the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area.
Understanding wider Antarctic impact on the global earth system in a changing climate critically requires understanding and monitoring of this sector of the ocean. But covering this enormous and navigationally challenging area requires new approaches, and international coordination of research efforts and oceanographic expeditions.
Back row. (left to right) Gianluca Colorito, Pasquale Castagno, Paola Rivaro, Giovanni Zambardino, Alessio Andreani, Craig Stevens, Giuseppe Asaro, Gianpaolo Visnovic, Giacomo Prato, Alessandro Bubbi, Massimiliano Esposito, Filippo Azzaro, Andrea Cova, Arturo De Alteris, Simone di Palma, Fabrizio Zgur, Francisco Ardini, Stefano Kuchler, Pierpaolo Falco, Svenja Halfter, Mathias Dehling, Ciro Rappazzo, Davide Siciliano, Giovanni Valastro.
Middle row. (left to right) Angela Garzia, Emilio Femiano, Cecilia Balestra, Benedetta Beltramelli, Roberto Romeo, Daniela Accettella, Alina Wieczorek, Liv Cornelissen, Luisa Fontanot, Naomi Krauzig, Meghan Duffy, Salvatore Napoli, Antonio Sposito, Antonio Sannino, Claudio Ingalisi, Salvatore Marino, Luigi Verde, Francesco Bellettini, Franco Sedmak, Diego De Nardi
Front row (kneeling) Lana Young, Jasmin McInerney, Georgia Pollard, Craig Stewart, Nancy Lucà, Massimo De Stefano, Mauro Celussi, Giuseppe Balsamo. Photo: Lana Young.
Infrastructure limitations
New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to stewardship of the Ross Sea region, and has made significant investment into physical and biological marine observations, including long-term oceanographic monitoring installations, and associated analyses.
New Zealand’s national polar research vessel infrastructure has traditionally been limited to the RV Tangaroa, which over recent times has travelled bi-annually to the Ross Sea. Due to the limitations of the vessel’s ice capability and thermal insulation, voyages are constrained by ice and weather conditions. Additional research capabilities have been accessed through arrangements with New Zealand-registered fishing vessels, international research vessels providing 1-2 berths for NZ researchers, and via ‘ships of opportunity’ (e.g. tourist, defence) where simple underway samples are collected. In addition, HMNZS Aotearoa provides some science opportunities on voyages to McMurdo Sound.
Notable among past NZ non-Tangaroa Ross Sea work is the collaboration with the Republic of Korea which has supported a decade of hydrographic instrument deployments in Terra Nova Bay via the IBRV Araon. The Platform has enabled the continuation of the Terra Nova Bay collaborative work with Korea.
A step change
At an early stage it became apparent to the Platform that the existing vessel strategy would struggle to access some key locations for Platform science. In particular, the importance of understanding processes occurring in the Ross Sea Polynya and at the interchange with the Ross Ice Sheet cavity required access to the most southerly part of the Ross Sea.
The Platform has since set out to achieve a vision of what an international Ross Sea observing effort might look like. The long timelines possible within the Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) environment allowed the Platform to develop a New Zealand-Italy Ross Sea research voyage in 2024. This voyage finally allowed access to the Ross Ice Shelf front for deployment of four moorings to observe the flux of water into and out of the cavity, as well as the polynya-induced modification to the ocean-sea ice system.
Another key outcome of the Laura Bassi voyage was a New Zealand-catalysed international deployment of a fleet of Argo-style floats supplied by New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, Portugal and Italy. The international Argo programme, and it’s Polar Argo spinoff, is a strategic tool to collectively develop a seasonally-unbiased, broad-scale dynamic picture of the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean, which is challenging and expensive using traditional oceanographic vessels and moorings. As part of this network, we are set to deploy the first multi-parameter Bio-Argo profiling floats (fitted with a range of biogeochemical sensors) in the Ross Sea, providing new critical data for monitoring and measuring ocean health.
Float deployment from the RV Laura Bassi. Photo: Lana Young.
Increased internationalisation of ocean research
The establishment of the Platform and its long planning horizon allowed us build on existing linkages with key collaborators from Italy, Korea, United States, Australia and China, and to grow new linkages with partners from Germany, United Kingdom, France and Canada.
Our strategic approach has enabled a dramatic increase in New Zealand participation and leadership in international Southern Ocean and Ross Sea ocean initiatives, including international coordination meetings in Korea with the National Science Foundation (2019) and Italy (2023), as well as ongoing participation in the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) Scientific Steering Committee and the SOOS Ross Sea Working Group.
The Platform continues to foster international research. The Platform-led 2025 Ross Sea Voyage on the RV Tangaroa is investing substantially in instrumentation to support benthic biogeographic research, and to optimise return on this investment has welcomed experts from Australia, China, Italy and the United Kingdom to join the NZ biogeography team. The new and extended data and research opportunities being made openly available by all nations supports science and policy, as well as strengthening international collaboration.
This case study was prepared as part of the Platform’s annual reporting to the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) for 2023-2024.
NIWA’s ice-strengthened research vessel, the Tangaroa. Photo: NIWA