Marion Island Annual Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 024, April 2017

The Marion Island Annual Relief Voyage was conducted on the MV SA Agulhas II Voyage 024, 06 April to 12 May 2017. The 2017 Marion Relief Voyage offered the fifth opportunity to conduct multi-disciplinary, shipbased marine research focusing on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, chemistry, biogeochemistry and biology, including microbial, planktic and benthic communities on board South Africa’s polar research and supply vessel MV SA Agulhas II en route to, and around, the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward archipelago. The overall aim was to continue contributing to an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, in support of global requirements of inter alia the Global Oceans Observing System (GOOS), the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). With the declaration on 9 April 2013 of the Prince Edward Islands (PEIs) as South Africa’s first offshore Marine Protected Area (MPA), the outcomes of this cruise will further contribute toward an integrated view and a better understanding of the functioning of the combined island/marine PEI ecosystem.

2017年马里恩岛年度补给航次依托SA Agulhas II号科考补给船（MV SA Agulhas II）执行第024航次任务，航期为2017年4月6日至5月12日。本次航次是第五次依托南非极地科考补给船SA Agulhas II号开展多学科船基海洋研究的契机，研究聚焦气海相互作用、海洋物理学、海洋化学、生物地球化学与海洋生物学，涵盖微生物群落、浮游生物群落及底栖生物群落的相关研究，作业海域为航次往返途经的亚南极爱德华王子群岛及其周边海域。本航次的总体目标是持续完善由南非科研机构主导的海洋学观测与监测体系，以支撑南非本国的海洋科研需求，并在可行范围内支持全球相关观测体系的建设需求，包括全球海洋观测系统（Global Oceans Observing System, GOOS）、南大洋观测系统（Southern Ocean Observing System, SOOS）、《南极海洋生物资源养护公约》（Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, CCAMLR）以及《信天翁与海燕保护协定》（Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, ACAP）。2013年4月9日，爱德华王子群岛（Prince Edward Islands, PEIs）被宣布为南非首个近海海洋保护区（Marine Protected Area, MPA），本次航次的研究成果将进一步推动形成对爱德华王子群岛复合岛屿-海洋生态系统运作机制的整合认知与更深入理解。