19 January 2021, 00h30 AM: off the coast of Durban

We have just arrived at our third station, off the coast of South Africa! On the program, 24 hours or almost 24 hours of water collection of all kinds: standard and “clean” CTD rosette, in-situ pumps, mini coring machine.
Over the next 4 stations, we will deploy everything to track the Agulhas current and quantify the nutrients it carries. This current ensures the return of warm waters from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and it also ensures strong biological production. On Wednesday morning, we will interrupt our activities to anchor in front of Durban to retrieve backup sensors for our clean CTD rosette; a pump, as well as the equipment of our South African colleagues who could not reach Reunion Island on time. They will then be able to install their incubators and do everything they had planned to do during SWINGS.