The JOIDES Resolution drill ship is back in Wellington after spending the last two months recovering sediment cores from off the east coast of the South Island. The photo shows the ship being loaded with fresh supplies in the Port of Wellington.
The expedition was very successful, with several holes being drilled, one of which was over 1900 metres deep. This is the deepest individual core drilled so far by the JOIDES Resolution. All of the rock retrieved has generated thousands of samples for analysis. In a few days the ship will depart for another trip, this time close to the coast of Antarctica.
Check out the TV3 news video here.
Also have a look at our own GNS video about the drilling programme:
GNS Science is running a 7 day holiday programme for school students that is investigating the science of ocean floor geology. 
The students were amongst a priveleged few New Zealanders allowed to visit the ship today. They were able to ask all sorts of questions of a number of scientists and technicians.
Young scientist Thomas Seaton is admiring the
drill teeth that cut through the solid rock of the ocean floor.
Imaging specialist Bill Crawford explains the process for making high resolution digital images of the rock cores.
