iCRAG Principal Investigator Prof. Peter Croot is currently cruising the South Pacific ocean on the RV Sonne.
Peter departed from Antofagasta in Chile just before Christmas, and is due to arrive in New Zealand later this month. Due to their remoteness from any continents, these waters are nutrient poor and hence are the clearest in the world. The South Pacific gyre is a poorly studied area, and the 33 scientists on board hope to find out more about the nutrient cycling that takes place in these low nutrient waters. As the waters are so clear, photosynthetic activity can take place at a much deeper depth. Since Peter began his journey before Christmas, the depth of maximum photosynthetic activity has deepened from 120 m to 190 m.
To keep up to speed with the work of the researchers, you can read the weekly reports of the captain of the RV Sonne here: https://www.ldf.uni-hamburg.de/en/sonne/wochenberichte.html