Boaty McBoatface

Her maiden voyage proper started on 3 April 2017 (2017-04-03), with the Dynamics of the Orkney Passage Outflow (DynOPO)[7][22] expedition onboard research ship RRS James Clark Ross of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), to research how Antarctic Bottom Water leaves the Weddell Sea and enters the Southern Ocean through a 3.5 kilometres (11,000 feet) deep region known as the Orkney Passage,[6] south of Chile.[5][23][24][25] During this DynOPO expedition, which was part of a primary project with the University of Southampton, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), along with additional support from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Princeton University, she traveled 112 miles (180 kilometres) at depths of up to 4,000 metres (13,000 feet), and collected data on water temperature, salinity, and turbulence. Combined with measurements collected by RRS James Clark Ross, the data suggest that as winds over the Southern Ocean have strengthened, driven by the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica, and increases in greenhouse gases, they have increased the turbulence of deep ocean waters, leading to increased mixing of cold and warm water.[26] According to National Oceanography Centre oceanographer Dr Eleanor Frajka-Williams,[27] "This was the unique new process that rapidly exchanges water between the cold and the warm and then spreads the effect of the different water properties over a larger area", more efficiently than the better-known processes that mix warm surface waters with cold water from the deep sea.[26] This action rapidly warms the cold water, which contributes to rising sea levels, as water becomes less dense as it warms.[28] This newly discovered action has not yet been included in models for predicting sea level rise and the effect of climate change on the ocean.[29] The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.[30]

A subsequent voyage for Boaty in 2017 was in the North Sea. Fitted with new chemical and acoustic sensors, these will enable Boaty to seek, or 'sniff out' traces indicating the artificial release of gas from beneath the seabed.[7] This will be part of a world first 'real world' controlled experiment in deep-water, in order to simulate any potential release of gas that may be indicative of leakage from a carbon capture and storage reservoir; and will be led by the NOC.[7]

Following on from her North Sea exploits, Boaty will head north in a major technical challenge, and attempt the first ever under-ice crossing of the Arctic Ocean.[7]

Starting March 2017, Boaty provided a package of online educational resources, primarily for teachers in low-attaining primary and secondary schools, as an aid to improving learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects for pupils.[7] This material from Boaty was also made available to the general public.[7]

During January and February 2018, Boaty completed her first mission under-ice. She was deployed in the southern section of the Weddell Sea, spending a total of 51 hours under the Antarctic ice. Part of the Filchner Ice Shelf System Project, she travelled a total of 108 kilometres (67 miles) and reached water depths of 944 metres (3,097 feet) during the mission. Boaty spent 20 hours underneath a 550 metres (1,800 feet) thick section of ice shelf.[1]

On 3 November 2020, Boaty headed for the open seas to start trials before a scheduled trip to Antarctica in 2021 for climate change research.[31]