reporter's notes | chinese and foreign scientists join hands to explore the deep sea on the first international voyage of jiaolong
2024-09-14
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xinhua news agency "deep sea no. 1" september 14threporter's notes | chinese and foreign scientists join hands to explore the deep sea on the first international voyage of jiaolong
xinhua news agency reporter wang yuhao
since the 2024 western pacific international scientific expedition set sail on august 10, the jiaolong manned submersible has completed 18 diving missions in the waters of the western pacific, carrying more than a dozen chinese and foreign scientists, including 8 foreign scientists, to explore the deep sea.
this is the first international voyage of the jiaolong, and also the first time that the jiaolong has carried foreign scientists for a dive. how is the international voyage prepared? what are the international cooperation stories during the voyage? the reporter conducted an interview on the deep sea one research vessel.
according to xu xuewei, chief scientist of the voyage and deputy director of the national deep sea base management center, this voyage is the first international voyage under the "digital deep sea typical habitats" big science plan. the plan is led by the china ocean affairs administration and has received support and participation from 39 countries around the world. "according to the overall deployment of the big science plan, we are planning to carry out a series of international voyages from 2022. these voyages have been internationalized and systematic since the planning stage."
this is the jiaolong returning to the rear deck of the deep sea one after completing a dive (photo taken on september 11, 2024). on september 11, the jiaolong manned submersible completed the last dive of the 2024 western pacific international expedition at vega seamount. photo by xinhua news agency reporter wang yuhao
in the second half of 2023, the international voyage entered the formal preparation stage. "we held three seminars with international scientists to study the details of the voyage. at the 2024 united nations 'ocean decade' conference in april this year, the china ocean affairs administration made a special presentation on this voyage and fully communicated with international scientists on the scientific objectives, work tasks, and crew members of the voyage, and finally formed a crew team," said xu xuewei.
the foreign scientists on this voyage come from eight countries, including canada, spain, and mexico. as the voyage implementation unit, the national deep sea base management center prepared a bilingual voyage manual in advance, which comprehensively introduced the mission arrangements, diving precautions, survey work requirements, and daily life on board. the academic lectures held regularly on board during the voyage were all conducted in english.
jaime, a scientist from colombia, told reporters that he was a little worried about communication problems when diving on the jiaolong, but he was surprised that the submariners had done their homework early and were very familiar with deep-sea creatures and marine environments. "the submariners also brought real-time translation equipment with them, but we communicated smoothly and didn't use it."
during the jiaolong's diving phase, chinese and foreign scientists gathered at 7 pm every night to watch and discuss the underwater videos taken during the day's dive. "although i study biological classification, i am not familiar with many underwater creatures. through discussions with scientists from different fields, we have formed a complete understanding of deep-sea creatures," said andrew, a scientist from spain.
on september 11, 2024, the jiaolong manned submersible completed the last dive of the 2024 western pacific international expedition at vega seamount. during the expedition, the jiaolong completed 18 dives in the western pacific, carrying more than a dozen chinese and foreign scientists to explore the deep sea. photo by xinhua news agency reporter wang yuhao
this is a microcosm of international cooperation on board. discussing the operation tasks together, installing the operation tools together, processing the samples collected from the dive together, writing the dive scientific report together, and participating in the on-board laboratory duty together... every link of the voyage scientific expedition is inseparable from cross-border exchanges and cooperation. "we always insist on chinese and foreign scientists to jointly participate in the voyage, dive together, share samples and data, and jointly carry out cooperative research to practice the concept of a community with a shared future for the ocean." xu xuewei said.
in early september, the expedition team also conducted science popularization activities via video link with primary and secondary school students in qingdao and hong kong. many foreign scientists took the initiative to record science popularization videos for students in both places, introducing scientific knowledge about mineral resources such as submarine nodules and submarine organisms such as sea cucumbers, corals, and sponges, and enthusiastically answered questions raised by students.
"after more than a month of work and life at sea, chinese and foreign scientists, divers and engineers have long become one team," said gao xiang, assistant to the chief scientist of the voyage and senior engineer of the national deep sea base management center.
regarding future international scientific expeditions, xu xuewei said that according to the "digital deep-sea typical habitats" big science plan, the jiaolong will carry out its second international cooperation voyage in the indian ocean to conduct biodiversity and environmental surveys in deep-sea hydrothermal areas, and looks forward to jointly exploring and sharing results in the deep-sea field with scholars from various countries.
