processed satellite data, that you'd get your answer. For example, in the late 1970s we found a strange feature while working on the warm currents off the New South Wales coast. We spent about four days trying to figure out what it was, but it was only after we got back -- about five months later -- and saw processed satellite images (in those days, satellite images were in absolute infancy) that we understood what we were dealing with. The last voyage I led in 2007, where I was chief scientist on Aurora Australis , we were getting real-time satellite data in a day relayed from shore. This allowed us to adapt our sampling strategies based on images of sea-surface temperature and ocean colour. And, that really helped us focus our efforts. The new vessel will have even higher data integration capabilities, allowing us to focus on process-based studies on the dynamics of the ocean. Brian Griffiths was in conversation with ECOS's Michele Sabto. The Australian Antarctic Division's research vessel Aurora Australis in sea ice off Davis base, with emperor penguins in the foreground.