Ocean expedition tasks could be time-consuming and arduous, but that was not the case for researchers on the vessel Kexue, whose name means science in Chinese, which had just accomplished a scientific research mission and returned to Qingdao, Shandong province, on Monday.

The team has just completed a monthlong ocean expedition in the Western Pacific. Apart from the tiring and tedious work, the researchers also had some memorable leisure time.

"On the playing court, I am not usually worried about going out of bounds," said Wang Zheng, the chief scientist from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. "But it is the most awkward situation when we play on the ship. Wind and waves are the biggest threats that block our way to score. If the ball got snatched, it meant we had lost it forever. So swatting is strictly forbidden here. Anyway, we took quite a few basketballs with us before the vessel departed."

Wang just won the championship in a shooting contest during the cruise. "Technically speaking, I'm the best shooter in the western Pacific right now," he said with a wide grin, "Because there is no habitation for hundreds of kilometers around here."

The research vessel Kexue returned to its home port after a 31-day expedition, which had covered more than 5,600 nautical miles.

Wang said it was a successful and fruitful research cruise. A total of 70 stations that measured oceanographic features were conducted, and two sub-moorings were refurbished.

"This successful joint mission combined physical oceanography, marine biology, marine geology, marine ecology and meteorology. Everybody contributed their best knowledge and skills during the research," Wang added.