A CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) device is lowered into waters near Antarctica to take a series of water samples as it returns to the surface from the sea floor in this undated handout photo. Scientists aboard the Aurora Australis set off from the southern Australian city Hobart, in Tasmania on March 22, 2008, on a voyage to Antarctica on Saturday to see if the icesheets at the edge of the vast continent are melting faster and whether the Southern Ocean is soaking up less climate-warming carbon dioxide. The CTD device will be deployed to obtain water samples. [Agencies]