Today is loading day in the port of Fremantle and this is the first log from the voyage. Daily logs will be posted on the WAMSI website during the month long voyage.

By Lynnath Beckley

The second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2) is motivated by the need to advance knowledge about geological, oceanic and atmospheric processes and their interactions in the Indian Ocean because they influence millions of people around its rim. The Expedition aims to quantify how these dynamics affect climate, marine biogeochemical cycles, ecosystems and fisheries, both within the region, and globally.

At the annual IIOE-2 Steering Committee meeting in March 2019 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Prof. Lynnath Beckley, Chief Scientist of the upcoming RV Investigator voyage (IN2019_V03) was presented with the IIOE-2 flag.

Representing the co-sponsors, Dr Satheesh Shenoi from the Indian Ocean regional alliance of the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS) and Dr Peter Burkill of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) made the presentation and the flag will be proudly flown during the voyage.

The voyage which leaves from Fremantle on 14th May will be repeating the 110°E meridian line in the south-east Indian Ocean that was last examined in 1963 by Australian scientists aboard the HMAS Diamantina during the first IIOE. The IN2019_V03 voyage addresses several of the research themes in the IIOE-2 Science Plan, particularly those pertaining to human impacts on the Indian Ocean, boundary current dynamics, ocean circulation, climate variability and change and the unique physical, biogeochemical and ecological features of the Indian Ocean.

This research is supported by a grant of sea time on RV Investigator from the CSIRO Marine National Facility.

More information available at https://iioe-2.incois.gov.in/