RV Tangaroa voyage update
Tangaroa has sampled more clean seawater from a site not affected by the January 15th eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HT-HH).
May 2nd, 2022
The weather is less than ideal, with winds over 40 knots (80 kph) and up to 5 m waves. Our original intention was to stop at a new site, that was on a direct route between Tonga and New Zealand. However, a tropical storm is currently on our path. In order to avoid the worst of the weather, Tangaroa has steered to the west and stopped at a site we visited on 16 April. Despite the wind and waves, we collected 50 litres of clean, filtered sea water. This will be enough to complete our experiments on the effects of ash on plankton living in the water.
Upon entering the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, around the Kermadec Islands, we deployed the Constant Plankton Recorder, that will tow and collect data all the way back to Cook Strait.
