In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the UNESCO/IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC), Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) conducted the Expedition of Widya Nusantara* (E-Win) 2013 with the goal to explore benthic and pelagic marine bio-resources and biogeochemical processes of the Makassar Strait.
The Makassar Strait is one of the inter-ocean passages of seawater mass from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, referred to as the Indonesian Through Flow (ITF). Total volume of water mass passes through this strait is estimated 8 – 9 million ton per second (Gordon, 2005).
Based on this physical characteristic, our research focus covers:
• Pelagic and benthic marine biodiversity
• Vertical mixing processes at the Makassar Strait
• Transport of pollutants
The expedition lasts for 20 days from June 1st till 20th, 2013 with twenty scientists onboard including some invited from PR China and South Korea.