The Pristine Seas Expedition ship SVS Grenville arrived at Tristan on 15th January 2017.

Expedition arrives at Tristan

Report from Expedition Leader Paul Rose

Our arrival here at Tristan da Cunha on 15th January 2017 could not have been better. From 60 miles away we could see the summit of the island soaring above the clouds. Only a few miles later we were enveloped in a fog so dense that we couldn't see from one end of our ship to the other. Guided by our radar we sailed slowly for two hours and then—at just two miles away—the island made a glorious, dramatic appearance.

Photo from Dan Myers from aboard the expedition ship SVS Grenville
on the approach to Tristan da Cunha from the east early in the evening of Sunday 15th January.
The Settlement Plain and cone of the 1961 volcano are visible right.

We feel as if we are part of the Tristan family: The expedition team and the Tristan Islanders became a single close family on our passage here, and as we helped unload their cargo from the storage hold and load it onto the barge their excitement at being home was tinged with a little sadness from us, as we love these people and we missed them aboard immediately.

Photograph from Kelly Burns showing SVS Grenville
anchored off Tristan on Monday 16th January, with a pontoon going alongside.

We are not short of ambition: We have twenty days to complete our comprehensive near-shore marine surveys, our deep and shallow water remote camera surveys, the botanical work, the bird studies, seal studies, hydro-acoustic recording, shark tagging, underwater filming, topside filming and sea-mount surveys on all four islands in the Tristan da Cunha group. It's very ambitious indeed and we are buzzing with the sense of challenge in this most beautiful and powerful setting.

Photo from Katie Daves showing part of the Pristine Seas team gathered by the
famous 'Welcome' board by the Tristan Toursism Centre and Post Office on Monday 16th January.

The expedition team were able to come ashore on Monday morning to tour the Settlement. They returned to SVS Grenville before the ship's departure at noon to begin the expedition's work around the Tristan da Cunha Islands.