There are huge advantages to working with the advanced technology aboard the S.A. Agulhas II. We are able to explore depths that have not been visited before with the autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). While these underwater robots expose us to the last frontier on the globe--the ocean deep--they are also extremely difficult to operate in the remote, harsh and icy terrain of Antarctica. So what could possibly go wrong?
We already experienced our first challenge when we lost and recovered an AUV. The AUV became trapped underneath the ice floe and the S.A. Agulhas II had to break two kilometers of ice in order to recover it. (In the video with glaciologist Sasch Montelli, we explained how the ship breaks through the ice. Scroll to the 28:13 mark.) We then sent in the ROV to collect the AUV, and used the crane to lift the AUV out of the water and onto the S.A. Agulhas II's helipad. In the technologically-advanced world of today, it was human endeavor, determination and perseverance that overcame this extremely stressful challenge.
