We navigate over a permeable border boundary known as the surface; the meeting point between two worlds: the Ocean and the Atmosphere. Off the coast of South Africa, the research vessel Marion Dufresne travels through underwater vortices to uncover their secrets. On board, dozens of scientists are ready to sample, measure and decipher. To discover and to understand.
What physical, chemical, biological phenomena are hidden within these remarkable natural mechanisms? What impacts do they have on climate and biodiversity?
To survey this study area over hundreds of kilometers, the ship is equipped with a wide array of scientific instruments. Some are fixed on board, some airborne, others underwater. Of all shapes and sizes, fitted with every kind of sensor, these instruments are used to characterise both the heights of the sky and the depths of the sea. If James Bond had been an environmentalist, he would be amongst us today.
My role here is to film video sequences for a TV documentary. So I, too, have brought my sensors! For images and sounds; for capturing the daily life on board, action, interactions and hopes. From the main bridge to the other decks, from the computer screens to the laboratories, I observe the diversity of professions and the complementarity of expertise. Cutting-edge technology and experienced scientists, demanding maneuvers and a seasoned crew, all working together to grasp the complexity of the natural world.
CORTEX AND VORTEX
I know nothing about fluid mechanics, but I am fascinated by human dynamics. I can’t decipher the data being collected, but I start to understand what science truly is. I see a multitude of individual and collective intelligence: the coordination of people and equipment, the capacity to adapt to the unexpected, precision, rigor, selflessness, and a shared commitment to advancing and sharing knowledge. Here, brilliant brains are dedicated to a noble cause, bringing together an extraordinary intellectual and technical expertise. With such wealth of knowledge on board, it would be easy to feel powerful. But the vastness of our surroundings quickly reminds us otherwise. We are only a handful of men and women, cheerfully bustling about on a slab of steel, floating in the middle of the ocean.
There is a greater whole that carefully guards its secrets and teaches us humility. The scale of it all is breathtaking, making the experience all the more profound.
As for me, I am modestly collecting my own kind of data: audiovisual. I am trying to understand and to convey what the scientists themselves seek to understand and share. I hope that a captivating figure, an image of plankton, a weather balloon released into the sky, or a glider launched into the sea will spark a sense of wonder in the audience and inspire a curiosity for science.
A spiral of knowledge passed from one person to another. A vortex of understanding that, in its own way, travels through time and space.
Author: Emerick Missud
Photos’ credits: Siann Bergbaum