CSIRO vessel embarks on blue whale research voyage

A team of scientists have embarked aboard the research vessel Investigator on an expedition to study the effect of krill swarms on the behaviour of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) in the Southern Ocean.

The vessel, operated by Canberra-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), will be at sea for 49 days in support of the expedition.

Investigator’s research payload for the voyage includes sonobuoys to track and locate whales from as far as 1,000 kilometres, multibeam echosounders to detect krill swarms, and aerial drones to photograph whales and to potentially collect samples of their mucus and faeces whenever such samples end up on the ocean surface.