RV Tangaroa carried out a six-week voyage to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean between 9 February and 21 March 2018 with scientists from NIWA and the University of Auckland.
Scientists did a range of surveys to better understand the processes governing this environment and its relevance to New Zealand. These included oceanographic observations, atmospheric observations, whale and benthic habitat studies, along with studies of plankton communities. The whale studies were carried out by the University of Auckland.
Voyage map
The map below shows the course of RV Tangaroa taken during the voyage, points of interest with red markers and blog posts with an orange "i" marker. Dates and times detailed are UTC, 13 hours behind NZ daylight time.
Voyage blogs
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Blog: Our first icebergs - 15 February
15 February 2018Our first icebergs -
Blog: Night patrol and iceberg spotting - 14 February
14 February We are not far enough south yet to have 24 hours of daylight so it is still getting dark at night, albeit a bit later than in Wellington right now. -
Blog: Oceanographic drifters and CTD - 13 February
Today was a busy day! We continue to transit southwards but we released three oceanographic drifters at 56 degrees South -
Update from voyage leader Dave Bowden - 13 February
13 February 2018Antarctic voyage leader Dave Bowden on the phone from the Southern Ocean. -
Blog: Emergency training - 12 February
12 February 2018Today our emergency training activity was focused on learning how to get in and out of our immersion suits, in under 2 minutes. -
Blog: Emergency drill - 11 February
11 February 2018Today an emergency drill with fire hose practice and lifejacket familiarisation was run with all the crew. -
Blog: Science safety tour - 10 February
10 February 2018Today’s main activity was a science safety tour. -
Blog: Dolphins farewell RV Tangaroa - 9 February
9 February 2018RV Tangaroa is farewelled by a pod of dolphins as it heads off on its 12th voyage to the white continent. -
Blog: From Wellington to Antarctica - 5 February
5 February 2018
Tomorrow is “mob day” for 40 people heading to Antarctica for six weeks aboard NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa. -
Tangaroa heads to Antarctica on six-week voyage of discovery
Media release31 January 2018Forty intrepid adventurers leave Wellington next week for a six-week scientific voyage to Antarctica. -
Image gallery
A selection of images from the voyage. We will be adding images as they are sent back from the vessel. -
Partners and funding
The voyage is supported by funding from NIWA, MBIE, the Deep South National Science Challenge and the University of Auckland.