RSS 2.0 FeedFebruary 24, 2011, Weekly editorial
Malaspina expedition: The adventure of a lifetime
Lucas Laursen, who has written for this newspaper in the past, is currently reporting for Nature Publishing Group on the Malaspina expedition, a Spanish oceanographic survey circling the globe along the route of Alessandro Malaspina’s 1789-1794 exploratory voyage (http://www.expedicionmalaspina.es).
He is on the Hespérides for the month-long leg between Cape Town, South Africa, and Perth, Australia, on a route (far from land and even from shipping lanes) that the original expedition never managed to complete.
The Hésperides, a Spanish icebreaker, above, is taking part in a research voyage that Spanish oceanographers hope will give them a glimpse of how the world’s oceans are changing, and help them forge connections with other scientists. Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC) has hundreds of scientists from over a dozen institutions participating; about three dozen at a time live and work onboard the Hésperides during the expedition, which launched late last year from Cádiz, Spain. Between legs, the scientists open the ship to visitors and give tours, telling stories from their earlier visit to Rio de Janeiro and from the historic expedition.
Alessandro Malaspina was an Italian who sailed for the Spanish navy in the 18th century. Despite leading a successful five-year expedition in which his ships surveyed the natural history, botany and geography of Spain’s widespread dominions at the time, Malaspina was imprisoned for conspiring against the prime minister, Manuel Godoy, before he was able to publish most of his results. He died in exile in Italy 14 years later.
On the modern expedition, scientists are testing floating sensors to complement satellite observations of the sea surface. And they’ll be counting plankton at 4,000 meters below sea level.
Lucas Laursen will be reporting on their expedition and occasionally comparing it to Malaspina’s, both in the details of how marine research works on a day-to-day basis and how scientists conduct international collaborations. It’s the adventure of a lifetime, and can help make science come alive for local students of all ages who want to follow along on his blog for Nature: The Great Beyond.
