Yacht racers do their bit for science

By PHILIP ENGLISH

The round-the-world yacht race stopover in Auckland has attracted a crew of would-be scientists.

The Viaduct Harbour has become home to a marquee for the Volvo Ocean Adventure science project, studying the complex systems at work in the oceans.

The eight yachts in the Volvo Ocean Race are part of the project, with sensors collecting data for study by scientists.

Dr Simon Boxall, coordinator of the project at its Southampton Oceanography Centre base in southern England, is in Auckland explaining its aims to visitors at the marquee. Schools have also been visiting the project's website.

Dr Boxall said one group of sensors in the yachts' rudders took the temperature of the top one or two metres of water where heat exchange between the sun and the oceans occurred.

"Most of the heat energy of the planet goes into the oceans first and is then redistributed both into the atmosphere and around the planet," he said.

"More importantly and probably more innovatively, we are also measuring the sea's colour.

"Things in the water like microscopic plant phytoplankton and pollution will colour the water in different ways. By measuring the colour we can determine how much phytoplankton or pollution is in the water."

Volvo Ocean Adventure