Antarctica expedition returns

SEPANG: Scientists from six local universities have completed a 33-day expedition to the Antarctica and brought home more than 200 samples for research.
Gathered from seven sampling checkpoints, these include water, algae, soil, ice, marine invertebrates, spores, air, and etc, which will be used to study the effects of climate change.
Deputy Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Datuk Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah said the mission was a success and expected to contribute to climate change research globally.
"Climate change involves many scientific fields and the data we've collected will be beneficial to future research in related fields.
"Our scientists will also be able to share their knowledge gained from this expedition with their international peers," Abu Bakar told a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) today when welcoming the eight researchers home.
The Antarctic was chosen as the effects of climate change is more apparent due to its location.
The researchers left Malaysia on Jan 13 for Ushuaia port in Argentina, the world's southern most port, where they travelled more than 1,000km by ship to Antarctica.
Their ship left the port on Jan 18 but had to turn back due to high winds and rough seas with waves going up to 6m, forcing the team to delay departure for 36 hours.
The mission resumed on Jan 22 and the team managed to reach their destination in slightly better weather. They also visited South Korean and Ukrainian research stations there.
Universiti Teknologi Mara's (UiTM) Dr. Mohamad Huzaimy Jusoh said the toughest part of the mission is getting there, as the ship went through rough weather.
"We can't even sit, we had to lie down in the ship due to the constant rocking. We were sea sick but that was expected," Huzaimy said, adding there was also a constant need to reconfigure their equipment due to the harsh and unpredictable Antarctic weather.
Huzaimy said they also had to make sure that all of them were in good health throughout the expedition.