Photo: Svenja Halfter/NIWA
The Antarctic Science Platform is the primary science funder of the RV Tangaroa's 16th Antarctic campaign, which departed Wellington on 17 January.
The team aboard the vessel has this week deployed NZ’s first biogeochemical Argo floats in the Ross Sea, expanding the international marine monitoring network. Argo floats are ocean-monitoring robots that drift in the ocean, rising and falling to depths of 1-2km at pre-programmed intervals to collect profile measurements of temperature and salinity as they drift. The "souped up" biogeochemical floats deployed this year capture even more data, including oxygen and chlorophyll levels. This new information will help fill observational gaps and begin to provide a better, year-round picture of the state of the ocean and the marine food web. Congratulations to NIWA and our Australian partners at CSIRO for collaborating with us on this milestone - the Argo programme is a truly international effort, and all data is freely available.
After waiting a few nervous minutes, the team received confirmation that the floats were “talking” and operational. Photos: Craig Stevens and Svenja Halfter/NIWA.
Voyage updates
You can follow the action on the ship through regular updates from voyage co-leaders Dr Craig Stevens and Dr Denise Fernandez:
Update #1: Departing Wellington for the Ross Sea 14 January
Update #2: A long, straight line south 17 January
Update #3: At the Antarctic Polar Front 20 January
Update #4: Huge icebergs start to appear 24 January
Update #5: Onto the continental shelf, turning westward 28 January
Voyage track
The RV Tangaroa left Wellington on 17 January and the NIWA vessel will spend about 39 days at sea, including 30 within the Antarctic Treaty area (south of 60°S). The main survey area is the Western Ross Sea from Iselin Bank to Cape Adare, and as far south as the Ross Ice Shelf front. You can see the Tangaroa’s current position and daily photos on NIWA’s website.
Photo: Gert-Jan Jeunen/University of Otago - Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka
Voyage science
Science objectives for the voyage include:
These objectives align with Project 2 – Ocean Mechanics and Project 3 – Ross Sea Ecosystems, and follow on from Tangaroa voyages in 2023, 2021 and 2019, and from the NZ-Italy Ross Voyage 2024.
Impact
Our research aims to:
Collaboration
The multidisciplinary team onboard the Tangaroa includes participants from Australia, Europe, India and the UK.
The voyage is supported by funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE), the Antarctic Science Platform, NIWA Strategic Science Investment Funds, University of Auckland, University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, University of Canterbury and overseas funding agencies.
Media
Venture south to track impact of warming world | Otago Daily Times Online News
Scientists head to Antarctica to study climate change impacts | RNZ
For media inquiries, please contact d.diaz@antarcticanz.govt.nz