Africa-Press – South-Africa. The SA Agulhas II, a polar research and supply vessel, is one of South Africa’s flagship vessels for scientific research.
This weekend, some members of the public will get a chance to view it.
The ship is currently docked in Cape Town harbour, in celebration of World Oceans Day, which was held on Thursday, 8 June.
This week, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment hosted 1 000 pupils who got to tour the vessel.
According to the department, 4 000 members of the public booked tickets to visit the vessel over the weekend.
It supports the SA National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) research facility in Antarctica, Marion, and Gough Islands.
According to the DFFE, the ship was designed to be at sea for 300 days a year.
The ship is equipped with laboratories to process seawater specimens, marine plant, and animal life.
There were also computers for scientists to access data for their research and also share their findings, said Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy.
There are eight laboratories and six container berths on the ship.
The South African Weather Services (SAWS) also conducted weather research on the ship and had weather offices at SANAE, Marion, and Gough Islands, according to the DFFE.
This was not only for weather predictions but also understanding long-term trends, said Creecy.
This will help with determining the extent to which certain extreme weather patterns are becoming more frequent.
“That work is very important us because, what we know, although globally, the number of extreme weather events has exponentially increased.
“In those countries where there are good early warning systems, the number of fatalities has substantially decreased. So, the weather work we are doing, is very important for our population in general,” she added.
The research on Marion, Gough and SANAE was also on various life forms – to make findings on the general environmental conditions of those species and also to determine implications for human beings, said Creecy.
She added the ship helped with mapping of the Southern Ocean floor.
The exhibition for schoolchildren also included stalls hosted by the DFFE and SAWS to explain the research conducted by the ship, including marine biology, and understanding weather patterns.
“We bring schools and the public to the exhibitions to show our connection to the ocean. We expect more than 6 000 visitors,” said Dr Ashley Naidoo, the chief director for oceans and coastal research at the DFFE.
“World Oceans Day is a day to show that we have a relationship with the ocean. The ocean covers 70% of the earth’s surface so we should be planet ocean.
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