By John Mitchell, Voyage Leader
Midday Friday, and all the sampling on Admiralty Seamount was completed. Our survey time has run out and we’re heading home. It’s a 1550 nautical mile steam from the Admiralty Seamount to Wellington, which will take just under 6 days if the weather is kind to us. If not, it could be much longer.
Photo: NIWA’s research ship Tangaroa working in heavy pack ice, Peter Marriott
A summary of what we’ve achieved:
- 39 sampling sites from the shelf, slope, abyss or seamounts
- total of 312 gear deployments using one of our 12 different gear types
- 88 fish, 8 squid and 18 octopus species recovered and identified
- 51 different invertebrate groups sampled consisting of nearly 4000 species lots
- 30 000 specimens retained for further analysis
- 55 hours video and 12,500 still images of the seabed taken
- In excess of 2000 litres of water filtered
- 7140 nautical miles travelled by the time we return to Wellington
Photo: NZ IPY-CAML Voyage participants, by Peter Marriott
See the Science Report on CAML-Cousteau Expedition tracking page
From February until mid-March 2008, New Zealand scientists are embarking on an eight-week voyage to the Ross Sea to survey the marine environment and explore the variety of life forms (biodiversity) in the region. This is part of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life and scientists on board will also contribute to the NZ Science Learning Hub for teachers and students. Follow all CAML expeditions routes on the CAML-Cousteau Expedition tracking page.