Background

After months of planning, 10 science experiments from DST and the Antarctic Science Platform departed Devonport Naval Base on board HMNZS Aotearoa, the Royal New Zealand Navy’s maritime sustainment vessel as part of a resupply mission(external link) (Op Tio 25) to Antarctica. 

Watch the RNZN's video(external link) featuring Commander Rob Welford of the HMNZS Aotearoa, where he delivers a message before embarking on the 2,400 nautical mile journey from Geelong to the ice.

Who is in the DST science team?

  • Peter McComb – trials leader, physical oceanographer
  • Sara Kinghan – research scientist at DST
  • ENS Oscar Brady – Tangaroa student intern at DST

The science activities are on behalf of many scientists and agencies in NZ, in collaboration with international partners in USA, Canada, and Italy.

DST’s main science objectives include:

  • successful deployment of global drifters - satellite-tracked buoys that measure ocean conditions and sends the data to scientists and are important for weather forecasting especially for NZ as we are surrounded by ocean - with MetService and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • deployment of SOFAR ocean buoys used for wave forecasting 
  • collection of air samples on behalf of GNS Science to help scientists better understand CO2 uptakes in the Southern Ocean
  • conduct eDNA underwater sampling on behalf of University of Otago to detect the types of cetaceans living in the water 
  • monitoring of an acoustic and oceanographic mooring at the polar front
  • installation of the Rutter Ice Navigator to test the ship’s ability to detect sea ice
  • record the presence of penguins, seals and whales in sea, on ice and on land on behalf of the University of Canterbury
  • deployment of three ARGO floats - robot floats that measure temperature and salinity throughout the world's oceans