Source: Australian Government – Antarctic Division
This is the first of our weekly updates on the science and shipboard activities happening on the Denman Marine Voyage, a 60-day collaborative science voyage to the Denman Glacier region. There are about 60 scientists on board, and they’re already hard at work.
RSV Nuyina has been at sea for almost a week and is expected to reach the target area in the next few days. It’s been rough at times but the crew and science groups have managed to get a fair bit done, deploying argo and BGC floats, the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) and Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP).
The eDNA team has been sampling the moon pool for invasive species and phytoplankton, wet well operations have begun and radiosonde air chemistry and modelling are being done by the atmospheric team, with twice daily balloon releases.
Daily science talks are being held on subjects like biogeochemistry (BGC), seal tagging, physical oceanography and sediments. Over the next few days there will be more talks on krill and their diets, benthic trawling and atmospherics.
Some of the teams have switched to their shifts as they prepare for 24-hour operations. There’s now a meal at midnight and plenty of food options, including curry at breakfast and eggs and bacon ready for lunch.
In a surprise turn, unofficial Antarctic mascot, Stay – the Guide Dog’s Tasmania collection dog – has turned up! (She was last spotted at Mawson research station). As usual, she came from nowhere and took a star turn on the bridge before disappearing again. You can find out more about Stay, the Antarctic enigma, here.
Air temp: 2°C, Sea temp: 3°C, Wind speed: 5.8kts, Significant wave height: 2.43m, Distance to Hobart: 1518nm
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Hobart
Burnie
Casey
Davis
Mawson
Macquarie Island
Denman Glacier
Bunger Hills
Dome C
Heard Island
Fremantle
Hobart
Burnie
Casey
Davis
Mawson
Macquarie Island
Denman Glacier
Bunger Hills
Dome C
Heard Island
Fremantle
RSV Nuyina
Voyage track of the RSV Nuyina over the last 10 weeks, from 28 December 2024 to 7 March 2025
To find out more, visit our website.
The Denman Marine Voyage is a collaboration between the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Research (ACEAS), the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF) and the Australian Antarctic Division.
This content was last updated 12 hours ago on 7 March 2025.