‘Robust little’ vessel begins treacherous 22,000km journey around Antarctica in the name of climate science — SkimNews
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- Saildrone, a US maritime company's seven-metre unmanned craft, departed Hobart on a roughly 22,000km Antarctic circumnavigation expected to take seven to nine months, propelled by westerly winds and solar power
- CSIRO principal research scientist Dr Elizabeth Shadwick said the vessel will head east toward New Zealand, transit the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica, pass South Africa, then return to Hobart
- The craft withstood eight-metre waves and 35-knot winds the day after deployment, prompting Shadwick to call it a "robust little device"
- The mission is the first of four autonomous vessels planned to launch at three-monthly intervals across the Southern, Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, gathering data — including during polar winter when crewed research vessels cannot operate
- CSIRO chief research scientist Dr Pep Canadell said for every tonne of CO2 released by burning fossil fuels, about 500kg is removed by ocean and forest sinks — "a 50% discount on climate change" — but warming waters, shifting westerlies, melting ice, acidification and the ozone hole could all alter that uptake
- UNSW Professor Matthew England, not involved in the project, said continuously tracking ocean carbon absorption is critical because a significant decline would signal "an even bigger problem of carbon emission reductions"
Why it matters: The Southern Ocean plays a significant role in absorbing roughly one-third of annual human CO2 emissions, yet harsh conditions have left major data gaps, especially in winter. This four-vessel Saildrone fleet will deliver continuous readings from previously unreachable waters without burning fuel, giving climate modelers their first real measure of whether that ocean carbon sink is holding or weakening.
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