RV Tangaroa — 2008

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Back from the ice bearing scientific treasure

NIWA's Fiona Proffitt reported on the Tangaroa's voyage to the Ross Sea for the June 2008 edition of the Institute's online publication Water & Atmosphere

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Introduction to the voyage
Follow the eight-week voyage as scientists and crew tell about their experiences on the ship on the New Zealand Science Learning Hub.

Countries involved

New Zealand

Dates

31 January 2008 — 21 March 2008

Location

Ross Sea, Balleny Islands (long 170°E - 175°W)

Project description

Twenty-six scientists and 18 crew are taking part in a 50-day voyage aboard RV Tangaroa to conduct a major biological survey of the Ross Sea. The intention is to collect samples of living material from the sea surface to the seafloor, from microscopic to mega-size across a wide range of environmental and geographic gradients. This includes collecting biological samples and capturing images of the seafloor down to depths of 4000m, in unexplored areas.

The data captured will provide baseline information from the Southern Ocean and Ross Sea environment that can be used to help monitor the effects of climate change in the Ross Sea region, and support sustainable management of the toothfish fishery.

Known as NZ IPY-CAML, the voyage is linked to the International Polar Year, Census of Antarctic Marine Life, and the New Zealand Ocean Survey 20/20 program. In addition, there is international collaboration with Italian, USA, Canadian, and Australian scientists.

Gear description

Simrad EM-300 multibeam echosounder for high-resolution seafloor mapping; Deep Towed Imaging System for high resolution video and still photography of marine animals and habitats in situ; midwater, rough bottom, and benthic trawls for fish and invertebrate sampling; epibenthic and Brenke sleds for sampling fauna on an above the seafloor; MOCNESS (Multiple Opening/ Closing Net and Environmental Sampling System) for sampling zooplankton; multi-corer for sampling sediments and small sediment-dwelling organisms; Continuous Plankton Recorder for underway plankton sampling; equipment to measure water parameters such as salinity, temperature, chlorophyll.