World-renowned research ship ‘Boaty McBoatface’ visits Devon
One of the world’s most famous and advanced polar research trips has visited Torbay while on sea trials this week.
The Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough - unofficially known as Boaty McBoatface - is a global leader in polar exploration and was spotted in the bay on Wednesday 17 February.
The vessel visited the West Country while on technical sea trials, which began in October 2020, and is due to help conduct science to better understand marine polar environments.
The ship’s technical, scientific, and operational features and capabilities are being rigorously tested and trialled before starting polar research tasks later this year.
Footage of the ship was captured by LS Rob Ealey on the HMS Protector as the research vessel made its way to Torbay.
It's not the only ship to be spotted near Torbay this week with this fleet of 'ghost ships' being sighted close to the South Devon coast.
The RRS Sir David Attenborough rose to fame in March 2016 when the public voted overwhelmingly in a poll for the ship to be named ‘Boaty McBoatface’ before it was built.
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) ignored over 120,000 public votes for its name choice and instead opted for ‘Sir David Attenborough’ which gained fewer than three per cent of votes.
The commissioning of the RRS Sir David Attenborough is part of a major Government investment in polar infrastructure to keep Britain at the forefront of world-leading research in Antarctica and the Arctic.
The £200m project is the UK government’s largest investment in polar science in 40 years.
RSS Sir David Attenborough has been built to accommodate 30 on-board crew, and 60 scientists and support staff.
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