https://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/7339.htm

Michael Veitch

CSIRO Publishing

ISBN: 9781486302642

AUD $35 (paperback)

Southern Surveyor: stories from onboard Australia’s ocean research vessel is a fascinating collection of tales from 36 participants on RV Southern Surveyor voyages over the last decade (2002-2013). The list of interviewees–as you would expect–reads like a who’s who of Australian oceanography and marine science. Chapters are divided into areas of expertise, capturing a diverse group who at one time called the RV Surveyor home, from scientists to crew and support staff. Each short interview is backed up by an amazing array of photographs to illustrate the stories told.

The book starts out by detailing the early history of the vessel. Built in Britain for the Ranger Fishing Co. of North Shields in 1971, she started out as the SN 17 Ranger Callisto. After a decade of trawling, in 1983 she was sold to a Norwegian company to become a dive support and survey vessel in the North Sea. It was here she was given the name Southern Surveyor. The CSIRO went onto purchase her in 1989 as a fisheries research vessel and she later became Australia’s sole multi-purpose research vessel in 2002, completing 111 voyages and covering an impressive 485,550 nautical miles.

The breadth of interviewees ensures that there are a diverse range of entertaining anecdotes, from amazing science conducted to misadventures with expensive instruments and even the story of a stowaway, Patrick, found hiding in the winch room after a departure from Brisbane. Not surprisingly, the most common thread amongst the stories is encountering rough weather aboard the Surveyor, some were more willing to admit succumbing to seasickness than others.  From the anecdotes, it sounds like Tom Trull’s voyages might not be the worst ones to miss if you had a weak stomach. I had the chance to participate on a cruise aboard the Surveyor in 2009 and this book brought back many fond memories of my maiden oceanographic voyage. Luckily, even though I passed through Bass Strait the weather was perfect, so I didn’t have to experience the famous Southern Surveyor motion in rough weather.

An excellent feature of the book are the information boxes, providing background on on many subjects mentioned in the book, ranging from topics such as the East Australian Current (EAC) to the various sampling instruments used. For a reader not familiar with oceanographic voyages, the jargon can quickly become overwhelming.

The author manages to capture the life and experiences of the voyages the now retired Southern Surveyor through the many stories elicited throughout. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone interested in Australian science, it’s written in the style of popular science making it easily accessible. I especially recommend it if you had the honour of participating on a voyage with her. It captures a unique history of the many adventures and world class science that took place upon the Southern Surveyor, which was more than just another ship. As the book touches upon at the end, that next chapter is now being written by the RV Investigator. 

Reviewed by Steven Hawes