By Bob Zuur
WWF-New Zealand Marine Advocate
Southern Ocean (Latitude 70o S, longitude 178oE)
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Bob Zuur is a marine biologist who is spending a month
exploring Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic Islands
to raise awareness of the area and its importance. His current work with WWF
focuses on fisheries, offshore oil exploration and seabed mining, and on
increasing protected areas in our marine environment. He will be
documenting his travels here on
3news.co.nz.
Our
Far South Bob Zuur RSS Feed
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Professor George Know was a giant of Antarctic science. He was also an important reason why I was part of the Our Far South voyage. "Prof", as we knew him, was my supervisor for my studies of the growth of fish under the ice in the Ross Sea 35 years ago. Prof played an important role in converting an idealistic 20-year-old into a somewhat more objective scientist.
Prof was president of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, the only New Zealander to hold that position on this prestigious international organization. His 1000 page Biology of the Southern Ocean became an internal reference work.
So amidst gently rolling seas and soft flurries of snow, Lionel Carter (Victoria University Antarctic Research Unit), read a moving eulogy to Prof. I was privileged, with Lionel and Victor Anderlini, to scatter Prof's ashes and those of his wife Dorothea at the mouth of the Ross Sea. As if to carry his spirit away, a minke whale swam under the boat as the ceremony closed.
Prof was a pioneer of Antarctic science and have would have been impressed with our ability to run dedicated research voyages deep into the Southern Ocean with the ice-strengthened Tangaroa. Prof would not have been surprised that these voyages are still discovering new animals. He would have dreamed of the international and multi-disciplinary research projects, such as the Andrill project drilling through the sea ice into the sediments of the Ross Sea. But I guess Prof would have been disappointed that New Zealand's funding for Antarctic science has declined in real terms over the last decade or so. On balance, I'm sure that Prof is resting in peace.