My time upon the RV Southern Surveyor
has been an amazing experience, being able to see the effects
of the east Australian current and eddies upon the planktonic
profiles. This is not
easily comprehended in a third person setting back at university.
It is a very relaxed atmosphere on board, where upon sampling
you have professors working with undergraduate students whose
only previous knowledge of them is citations in scientific
publications.
The equipment available for use upon the national facility
is incredible and the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
support is fantastic aboard making it all possible, along with
the help of the ship’s crew. The data able to be gathered
upon this vessel is priceless and in many situations can not
be substituted for any other method of sampling and hopefully
helping us to better understand our oceans.
The time aboard the Southern Surveyor is both inspirational
as well as memorable, with all the people aboard seemingly
enjoying their time aboard as well as learning from each other.
This has been my second voyage on the vessel, and has led to
a four week voyage on the Sonne (a German research vessel)
supporting the "University of the Sea". I fly out
the day after we dock and will spend the four weeks studying
the petro-geology off Western Australia.
Christel Hassler, CSIRO
This research voyage provides a unique
opportunity to scientists from CSIRO and University of Technology,
Sydney, to investigate the interaction between nutrient,
light and phytoplankton in poorly characterised eddies within
the transition zone of the East Australian Current. The RV Southern Surveyor facilities
and flexibility, the crew mostly appreciated availability all
rendered this exciting research possible. The intensive research
focussed on zooplankton, and especially salps, carried during
this research trip by Iain Suther’s University of New
South Wales team, allowed us to collaboratively study food
web connections between phytoplankton and salps in a sensitive
Australian coastal area.
Justine Djajadikarta, University of Technology, Sydney (working
in conjunction with Christel Hassler CSIRO)
When first told about a voyage with the
RV Southern Surveyor, it was described in two words - ‘working voyage’,
to which I learned to be quite literal; long hours with time
off to unwind in the great facilities. Being one of my first
voyages as a marine biology student it was a great chance to
learn first hand, the roles in which future experiences will
encounter. In conjunction with the CSIRO a study of zooplankton
(Salps) and their correlation to the East Australian Current,
eddies, various coastal and transitional currents were undertaken.
A study which also corresponded (and I focused upon) were the
responses undertaken by phytoplankton when various factors
they are independent upon are manipulated. Overall, it was
an intense experience that will prove valuable in my field
of study and highly recommended.
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