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Today Falkor has begun a five-day transit from the Timor Sea into the Pacific Ocean. While some of those onboard are yielding to the soothing effects of its rocking, the crew is busy making sure the island keeps functioning. Fundamentally, that is what we are: an 83-meter island with an autonomy of 36 days. Falkor’s … Continued

At 7:30am, the sun will barely have started its slow ascent. Maybe that is why waking up at 4:30am to prepare the instruments to go aboard Falkor’s work boat, Atreyu, feels like a giant test of Janina Rahlff’s commitment to her research. She is not the only one involved of course, Chief Scientist Oliver Wurl and two … Continued

There has not been a slow day in this expedition. As Chief Officer Paul Shepherd and his team scan the horizon in search for a helicopter, he considers what a luxury it has been to have had a whole week to practice this cruise’s operations in ideal weather. Getting instruments in and out of the … Continued

The processes controlling carbon dioxide transport and transformation in oceans remain uncertain. We need to be able to model the transfer of this gas between the atmosphere and the ocean in order to create regional and global budgets of carbon, nutrients and pollutants. Technology is one of the reasons why this knowledge has had to … Continued

It was hot when Drs Rachel Shelley and William Landing were setting up the aerosol sampler on the forecastle of Falkor. Secured to the railing on the outside of the Bridge, the sampler is basically a vacuum machine that runs huge amounts of air through a filter, collecting dust suspended in the air. It is a … Continued

We have all heard it, we know more about the universe than we do about the oceans. Many more have walked on the moon than descended to the deepest part of the ocean. The maps we have of the seafloor are generally less detailed than the maps of the planets around us. There is, no … Continued