michaelpenston
Written 25 posts
The Constant Sampler
3rd February 2011
The monitoring station at Stonehaven is over 13 years old and the one in Loch Ewe is 9 years old. With a view to collecting decades more data, succession planning is underway. Staff are being trained up, paperwork is going electronic, new shared folders have been established and group email accounts are being set up….
ICES/NAFO Decadal Symposium, May 2011
18th January 2011
The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) Symposium on the Variability of the North Atlantic and its Marine Ecosystems During 2000-2009 will be held in Spain in May this year. Abstracts have been submitted describing data collected at the Stonehaven and Loch Ewe monitoring stations. We…
A Brief Introduction to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (directive 2008/56/EC)
14th January 2011
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) seeks to establish a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy. This directive has called for the achievement of good environmental status (GES) by 2020 with an initial assessment of EU waters by 15 July 2012. The commission decision on criteria and methodological standards on…
Bongo nets
14th December 2010
Bongo nets (one with 68 and the other with 200 micron mesh) being deployed on a pristine, sunny winter day in Loch Ewe (13/12/10). (Photo: P. Maclachlan) It sure looks pretty out there, but we’re told temperatures were -0.8 degrees Cecius (13/12/10). We hope there was plenty of hot tea to hand for the samplers!
Calanus poster
9th December 2010
One of the Marine Scotland Science posters that was to be presented at the MASTS conference in November 2010 (which was cancelled due to weather) describes some of the data collected at the coastal monitoring sites. It describes patterns in the abundance of Calanoid copepods which are important in marine ecosystems, particularly as food for…
MASTS
23rd November 2010
The MASTS (Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland) Annual Science Conference takes place in Oban at the end of this month. Included amidst a wide programme, presentations will be made on monitoring results from Stonehaven and Loch Ewe. More details will follow shortly…
Collection of water samples at known depths
16th November 2010
A Van Dorn Bottle (see photo) is used to collect water samples from discrete depths. The water samples collected using this apparatus are analysed for silicate and the nutrients; ammonia, nitrate and phosphate.
Tail-end of Hurricane Tomas
12th November 2010
The high winds that have hit the UK this week are likely to be related to the tail-end of Hurricane Tomas which has been reeking havoc in Ireland. It is Friday today, the winds have dropped and the sea state has improved, however, due to technical problems at Stonehaven harbour, Temora is trapped in the inner harbour…
Gales
8th November 2010
SE winds of over 30 mph are forecast today and later in the week. A close eye will be kept on the weather (see photo of conditions today) this week in an effort to spot a window in which the sampling can be undertaken.