Updates

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Discover the latest updates on our activities, team and research findings. You can browse, filter by category or type, or search by keywords.

Sea ice

Antarctica's sea ice hit another low this year – understanding how ocean warming is driving the loss is key

Date: 2024
Type: Field Work
Authors: Professor Craig Stevens
Summary: At the end of the southern summer, Antarctica’s sea ice hit its annual minimum. By at least one measure, which tracks the area of ocean that contains at least 15% of sea ice, it was a little above the record low of 2023.
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Platelet ice sampling system: the first deployment

Date: 2024
Type: Science
Summary: The 22/23 Antarctic field season was the first scientific deployment of the new platelet sampling system. This custom-designed and bespoke-engineered system successfully sampled the biota associated with sea ice and platelet ice habitats.
Ross Sea Voyage 2024: Laura Bassi Ross Sea Voyage Photo by Lana Young

Signs found of worryingly fast Antarctic ice melt

Date: 2024
Type: Update
Authors: Radio New Zealand
Summary: Scientists returning from a voyage into Antarctic waters say they found worrying evidence about how much ice has melted and how quickly.
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New Zealand scientists return from Antarctica's ice with information that could shape future climate policy

Date: 2024
Type: Science
Authors: Newshub's Mitchell Redman
Summary: A large group of New Zealand and Italian scientists returned to Lyttelton on Saturday - after a two-month voyage through Antarctica's Ross Sea. Twenty-five Italians and 12 Kiwis were onboard the Laura Bassi - dodging icebergs and battling 185km/h winds in one of the most remote, and largely misunderstood parts of Earth.
2024 02 19 ASP team on Helo deck Lana Young

Ross Sea Voyage Update #12: Crossing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Date: 2024
Type: Update
Summary: It’s the last chance for bird watching and ocean sampling, as the ship heads north to New Zealand. Molte grazie (many thanks) to all of our supporters.
Ross Sea Voyage 2024 Robertson Bay

Ross Sea Voyage Update #11: Robertson Bay

Date: 2024
Type: Update
Summary: Icebergs everywhere in Robertson Bay – a corner of the Ross Sea, and a place that acts as a record of change. Conditions allowed the team to complete sediment cores and CTD profiles, before they head north for the return journey to New Zealand.
Ross Sea Voyage 2024: Sunset sea ice

Ross Sea Voyage Update #10: Sea ice, sunsets and science

Date: 2024
Type: Update
Summary: As the vessel works its way south into the Joides Trough, the team is seeing some spectacular sunsets and sharing some incredible imagery, while collecting biophysical baseline data.
Ross Sea Voyage 2024: Sea ice

Ross Sea Voyage Update #9: Sheltering in sea ice

Date: 2024
Type: Update
Summary: The team are hiding in the pack ice! But between the storms, they’ve managed to undertake about 36 hours of science activities, including moorings, CTD profiles, a zooplankton trawl and recovery of a sediment trap.

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