Thursday 20th January
Today's contributor: Jon Copley
We've now arrived at Hook Ridge, an undersea feature in the Bransfield Strait between King George Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. During the 1990s, researchers detected signs of deep-sea vents in this area - and we are the first to return here to investigate further.
Launching the CTD probe
The science team has spent the day hunting for vent plumes with the CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) probe. Vent plumes are the trails of smoky water that rise above deep-sea vents. By mapping these plumes, we can narrow down the location of the vents on the seafloor in preparation for sending down our camera system and sampling gear. The plumes themselves are also being investigated by our microbiologists on board, to see if the microbes that live in them differ from those found elsewhere in seawater.