Location: Science Cruise – South Atlantic
As you cruise out of Grimsby, you head through the English Channel and out into the Atlantic. It’s shorts and sunscreen as the ship sails past Madeira, through the Canary Islands down the west coast of Africa and towards Ascension Island. A typical science project on the way south might include “mowing the lawn”. Time is spent steaming a grid pattern to survey a particular area of the sea bed, hence the terminology. The swath-bathymetry sea bed mapping system, fitted to the ship, gives more scope for this type of survey and in far more detail than previously available. The main aim of the cruise may be to map in detail the Mid-Atlantic ridge in the area around Ascension Island to study further the volcanic nature of this ridge.
Choosing to sail south is a great option, unless of course you haven’t sailed across the Equator before. If this is the case, then you will be summoned to attend King Neptune’s Court.
As you are currently onboard RRS James Clark Ross, why not take the tour??
Next stop: Falkland Islands