Remembering Hudson-70

Abstract

Hudson-70 was the last big multidisciplinary global oceanographic expedition. Organized by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO), based in Nova Scotia, this epic eleven-month voyage lasted from November 1969 to October 1970, involved 128 scientists from five countries, and traversed five oceans. Enroute, the CSS Hudson steamed 56,000 nautical miles and became the first ship to circumnavigate the Americas. A huge amount of new oceanographic information in all disciplines was collected in environments ranging from tropical to polar. Major highlights are summarized. General overviews of the expedition were published in three books and the results of individual studies were reported in over 50 scientific publications. Hudson-70 was a major Canadian oceanographic accomplishment, truly worthy of celebrating fifty years later.