China's first domestically made polar icebreaker Xuelong 2 has recently placed and recovered buoys from the sea bed in Antarctica's Prydz Bay. Those buoys are equipped with different instruments to collect valuable data about the ocean, including temperature and salinity current. The set of sediment trapping buoys trailed 24 bottles, one for each month.

This was the first time the icebreaker operated in the Antarctica. China's 36th Antarctic expedition team recovered a set of sea-bed buoys placed by the 34th expedition team in Antarctica's Prydz Bay last Tuesday and placed a set of new buoys the next day.

Xuelong 2 set off on its maiden polar voyage on October 15 from Shenzhen City of south China's Guangdong Province. Carrying 413 scientists, researchers and supporting staff members, Xuelong 2 is a major part of China's 36th Antarctic Expedition.