{"id":32340,"date":"2025-05-19T20:20:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T18:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/?p=32340"},"modified":"2026-10-19T20:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T18:28:28","slug":"the-curiosity-microscope-in-the-kerguelen-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/the-curiosity-microscope-in-the-kerguelen-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"The Curiosity Microscope in the Kerguelen Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\" id=\"wpb-content-root\"><p>[vc_row row_type=&#8221;row&#8221; use_row_as_full_screen_section=&#8221;no&#8221; type=&#8221;full_width&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; background_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; css_animation=&#8221;&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_column_text]Last may 2025, the French polar patrol vessel L\u2019Astrolabe set sail on a sovereignty mission to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) \u2014 a vast, remote territory in the sub-Antarctic region.<\/p>\n<p>To reach these isolated islands, the ship had to navigate through the Roaring Forties and confront the Furious Fifties \u2014 notorious latitudes known for their harsh maritime conditions, including 3\u00b0C waters, 10-meter waves, and winds exceeding 75 knots.<\/p>\n<p>Romain Persat from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mission-bougainville.fr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mission de Bougainville<\/a> is a scientific initiative that studies the planktonic biodiversity of the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans, using low-cost, field-ready instruments deployed aboard French Navy vessels.<\/p>\n<p>The Southern Ocean, a key regulator of the global climate, supports an exceptional marine microbiome despite its extreme conditions. During the mission, Romain conducted eight plankton samplings \u2014 both during navigation between island districts and in several sites within Morbihan Bay in the Kerguelen archipelago. These samples highlighted the vibrant, microscopic life flourishing in the nutrient-rich cold waters of the Southern Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Onboard, the Curiosity microscope was used for both scientific analysis and science communication. It enabled real-time visualization of collected samples, offering a quick overview of plankton abundance and concentration prior to quantitative imaging. It also served as a powerful tool to engage the ship\u2019s crew and the overwintering scientists at Port-aux-Fran\u00e7ais, helping to explain the Bougainville mission\u2019s goals and the ecological importance of plankton in the ocean.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_masonry_media_grid grid_id=&#8221;vc_gid:1792434096638-403a83cf-cf90-2&#8243; include=&#8221;32053,32055,32056,32057,32058,32059,32060,32061,32062,32063,32064,32065,32066,32067,32068,32069,32070&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Curiosity microscope was at the Kerguelen Islands in May 2025 aboard the French polar patrol vessel L\u2019Astrolabe as part of the Bougainville Mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,63,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explore","category-missions-expeditions-en","category-photo-galleries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32340"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32402,"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32340\/revisions\/32402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curiositymicroscope.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}