SCIENTISTS TO BRAVE STORMY SEAS FOR 90-DAY ANTARCTIC TRIP
A three-month scientific voyage to explore the ocean around Antarctica will bring together 55 scientists from 30 countries in a first-of-its-kind mission this month.
On the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition, researchers will study the impact of climate change and pollution in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.
“A better understanding of Antarctica is critical, not just for its preservation but for the whole planet,” the expedition said in a statement.
The Russian research vessel Akademik Treshnikov will depart from Cape Town, South Africa, on Dec. 20. On board will be experts in glaciology, climatology, biology, oceanography and other disciplines. Twenty-two different scientific projects will be undertaken.
“The poles are essential for climate balance, but they are also the regions where changes are most apparent,” said Philippe Gillet of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, one of the groups that sponsored the mission.
The expedition aims to spark the interest of a new generation of young scientists and explorers in polar research.
Though there were missions around Antarctica in the 1950s, this will be the first to explore the little-known islands around the continent, said David Walton, the expedition’s chief scientist.
“We hope to link some of the well-known areas to some of the largely unknown, to promote new ways of looking at the Southern Ocean and the islands,” Walton said.
The mission will mainly study the ocean and islands around Antarctica. Work on the continent will occur only near the Mertz Glacier Tongue, where the team will use a sophisticated Canadian underwater vehicle to examine marine life under the ice shelf, Walton said.
The mission is organized by the Swiss Polar Institute, a group of scientific institutions and universities based in Lausanne.
Support staff such as helicopter pilots and field guides will be on board. Even a Nobel laureate will join to experience the research firsthand, Walton said.
Stormy seas are possible for some of the voyage: “We are going in summer and so the weather will at times be quite good, but around some of the islands, we are expecting rough seas,” he said.