Marine

Update from Scotia research survey 1815S: December in the Faroe-Shetland Channel

December 21, 2015 by Marine Scotland Communications No Comments | Category Marine Directorate Science, Research Vessel Surveys

Greetings from Scotia from the Faroe-Shetland Channel!

A group of experienced scientists and engineers came on-board Scotia on Thursday December 10^th to sail into the northern North Sea and on into the Faroe-Shetland Channel.

More than a week into our 12-day trip, we can clearly say that we have had exceptional weather for December with calm conditions, only small swell, and short bursts of gusts. We’ve had no down-time due to weather so far, nobody has fallen out of bed, and our lashing-down techniques have not been tested. The weather conditions are very unusual for the North Atlantic in December but it means we can get lots of work done.

Our work mainly focusses on collecting hydrographic, chemical, and biological data throughout the water column to extend existing time series of conditions in this region. We use a CTD (conductivity/temperature/depth), which gets lowered down to the sea floor while the boat stays in the same positions, and an ARIES (Automated Recording & Instrument Environmental Sampler), which gets towed behind the boat while steaming at 3knots and the instrument get lowered slowly down to the sea floor. We take water samples to look at salinity, oxygen, nutrients, TADIC, oxygen isotopes, bacteria, and marine oil snow. ARIES collects CTD data but also OPC (optical plankton recorder) and actual samples of plankton. The plankton samples get washed out of small nets and preserved in small vials for analysis back at the lab. We even caught some bright red krill in our nets. One ARIES tow can last up to 2.5 hours in water that is 1230m deep. Data processing and analysis is still on-going and will continue long after the cruise has finished.

At the end of one of the sampling lines we were close to the Faroe Islands. The wintery-looking islands were covered in snow and looked beautiful in the pink sun rise. Overall, morale is high and everyone is looking forward to spending Christmas with their loved ones. An unofficial Christmas tree decoration competition was clearly won by the second team based on both quality and quantity.

Christmas on the Scotia

Here are a few fun numbers about our cruise so far:

• 12 ARIES tows completed
• 88 CTD stations completed
• 6 sections completed
• 392 vials filled with plankton samples
• 2 Christmas trees put up and decorated
• 8 doors opened on our advent calendars since coming on-board
• Numerous sightings of Fair Isle, Shetland, Orkney and Faroe

And the 8 Marine Lab people have probably consumed (random selection):

• 56 bags of crisps
• 42 Kit-Kats
• 33 oranges

And ~1 cow (or the equivalent amount of meat roughly, or at least that what it feels like)

On that note, we will be back in time for Christmas (to eat even more) but for now from on-board Scotia, Merry Christmas and a lovely holiday!

Dr Berit Rabe, Inshore Physical Oceanographer

More Information

• Marine Scotland Science
• Marine Scotland research vessels

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