Observers aboard R/V Polarstern, a windy campaign in Drake Passage
By Gastón Kreps, Vania Carrera & Bruno Canella |
Why are observers aboard R/V Polarstern? The PS97 campaign is planned to be realized in the southern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Doing so, large parts of our working area are located within Argentinean and Chilean costal and offshore areas.
Each scientific campaign has an approved plan and objectives. Therefore it is the function of the observers (representatives of the respective countries), to assure that the scientific program is conducted without altering the original as the governmental representatives approved it.
The observers of this campaign are Vania Carrera representing the Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile (SHOA, Chile), Bruno Canella from Argentinean Navy and Gastón Kreps representing Concejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONICET, Argentinia).
However, the three of us are not just “simple observers, we also support the other scientific groups. Vania, for example, is sampling sea water along with the biological groups, Bruno and Gastón are working with the oceanography group.
It’s important to mention that the reception from scientist and crew members of R/V Polarstern is excellent and all doors of the ship are open to make our jobs as easy as possible.
Finally each observer has to make a report to their respective governments, informing them about all the ship´s work that has been done over the expedition.
Gastón Kreps, Vania Carrera & Bruno Canella
