For Science!

One of the things I enjoyed the most about traveling with One Ocean Expeditions on the Akademik Ioffe was their commitment to ocean health & conservation. By providing berths for scientists on their ships, they enable world-class scientific research and create opportunities for science in remote, inaccessible parts of the world. We learned the most challenging aspect of doing research in Antarctica is getting there or at least getting the funds to get there. For One Ocean to show their commitment to science by providing this service, for both the scientists and the passengers who gain so much added value from this experience, was pretty exceptional.

On our particular expedition, we had five scientists, varying from whale biologists to seal biologists. During each excursion, Team Science, as we endearingly called them, would take their own zodiac and look for whales away from the rest of the passengers, or drop one of the scientist off at a colony to count penguins. They went through extensive hoops to get the proper permits to do things such as be able to capture drone footage of whales and tag them to collect data. They had also rigged up a device attached to their drone that collected samples as they flew it through the whale spout they could later test and find out the sex of the animal and if female, if she was pregnant, among other things. It was truly fascinating to sit down for a meal or in the bar with Team Science and listen to what they were finding and where their research had led them. 

In a lot of ways it made us feel like we were a part of something more, even though we were just there as tourists. We all returned as ambassadors for this incredible continent dedicated to Peace and Science. Learn more about One Ocean's featured initiatives here.