Southern Ocean

Day 3 – Monday 17 January 2011 – Crossing Drake Passage

Monday and we are out in the Drake Passage: a strong head wind slowing us slightly. Drake Passage, between Cape Horn at the tip of Chile and the Antarctica Peninsular, is a choke point for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that travels around the continent of Antarctica.

Day 1 – Saturday 15 January 2011 – Crossing Drake Passage

We wake on Saturday morning having navigated the Magellan Straits and now we start to cross the Drake Passage to Antarctica. Paul Tyler is in charge of this expedition and we have a busy schedule ahead of us.

We are here to carry out a 41 day expedition in the Southern Ocean to explore the newly discovered hydrothermal vents in this remote region. Our principal scientist or expedition leader is Paul Tyler from the University of Southampton who has vast amounts of experience of working in this hostile environment.

Last month the RRS James Clark Ross set sail in the direction of the Antarctic Peninsula and the Northern Weddell Sea to measure the production of Antarctic Bottom Water. Onboard ship is an international team of young scientists who are contributing to a blog diary about their work and experiences during the expedition.