Ship Ahoy!

After months of planning and preparation the Tangaroa has finally left the port in Wellington to embark on its voyage to the Southern Ocean. Many people came to farewell the crew and the ship – including the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Loading the Tangaroa

It took four days to load the ship with all the scientific equipment, food and safety gear for their work in Antarctica. The ship had to be equipped with enough food for 44 people to last 50 days. At the moment it is hard for the cooks to find things in the fridge and freezer – which is not surprising given that the provisions include 150 dozen eggs, 630 litres of milk and 400 litres of juice.

The planning for the voyage involved the development of a detailed scientific voyage plan that describes where the scientists will be sampling, what they will be sampling, who will do the sampling and how they will undertake the sampling.

The crew of the ship is leaving New Zealand summer temperatures, and are well aware that this will be the last warm weather they will have for the next two months. Temperatures in the Ross Sea will be below zero, and even though it is summer in Antarctica, the wind chill will cool the temperatures down to -40°C. Everyone will have to be aware when they go out on deck not expose the skin for too long so as not to get frost bite. Touching metal with bare hands is not a good idea as it can be so cold that hands can freeze to metal, which can be very painful. Another big change moving south will be long daylight hours. On arrival in the Ross Sea the crew will experience 24 hours of daylight and by the time they leave the Ross Sea in the second week in March this will have shifted to about 17 hours of daylight.

Checking the equipment

On their voyage the crew will get to see plenty of birds, fish and mammals. The albatross, a truly magnificent bird with wing spans of up to 3.5 metres, will be soaring just above the water. Once the ship gets close to the Ross Sea they will also encounter lots of icebergs. One iceberg that will be in the vicinity of the Tangaroa is known as B15A, which will be approximately 120 kilometres long and 20 km wide and about 30 m high.

Follow the ships progress on the Science Learning Hub during its eight week voyage.