Leaving the Wellington harbour

This video clip shows the departure of the research vessel Tangaroa from Wellington harbour. You can see the berthed vessel before leaving the wharf. Then the clip shows scenes of the ship maneuvering out of the harbour. The captain describes the upcoming voyage and when they anticipate encountering icebergs. Finally the video shows the ship moving through the waves on the first day of their voyage.

Points of interest for teachers:

• The size of the research vessel and what it means to maneuver in the harbour.

• The captain’s bridge that spans from one side of the vessel to the other and that the navigation of the ship is controlled from here.

• Ocean conditions and the rolling of the vessel in the sea; note it will be interesting to compare this with future footage from the ship.

Transcript

CAPTAIN ANDREW LEACHMAN

Well we left Wellington the day before yesterday and we’re steaming south. we’re likely to encounter icebergs between 60 and 62 degrees South. As we get further South to about 65, 66 we’ll see the ice edge – the pack ice and then we’ll try to work our way through the pack ice to the Antarctic continent and we’ll probably work towards Cape Adare.