Culture

Boaty McBoatface Is About To Embark On His Maiden Voyage

God speed, Boaty. God speed.

by Tom Clift  14 March 2017
Boaty McBoatface

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Every once in a while, when it’s focused in the right direction, the online hivemind can be a truly wonderful thing. Such was the case when the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council asked the public to name its new $300 million antarctic research vessel, and the internet immediately christened it Boaty McBoatface.

Sadly, the killjoys in Her Majesty’s government quickly put the kibosh on everybody’s fun, opting for the far less interesting RRS Sir David Attenborough. But in a little hat tip to the public vote, they did give the name to one of the National Oceanography Centre’s new long-range unmanned submarines. And now, Boaty is getting ready to embark on his maiden voyage.

Related

Boaty will investigate water flow and turbulence in the Orkney Passage, a 3.5km deep area of the Southern Ocean. The data Boaty collects will help scientists gain a better understanding of the effects of global warming.

“One of the most surprising features of the climate change that we are currently experiencing is that the abyssal waters of the world ocean have been warming steadily over the last few decades” said lead scientist Alberto Naveira Garabato of the University of Southampton.

“Establishing the causes of this warming is important because the warming plays an important role in moderating the ongoing — and likely future — increases in atmospheric temperature and sea level around the globe.”

Boaty will depart from Punta Arenas in Chile aboard the research ship RRS James Clark Ross on Friday. God speed.

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h/t Gizmodo. Feature image via the National Oceanography Centre.