Marine

  • Live and Acoustic with Herring and the Sprats

    26th June 2018 by

    Scotia in Scapa Flow by Michael Stewart

    Survey: 0918S Duration: 28 June – 20 July 2018 Sampling Gear: Midwater trawls PT160 x 3; Demersal trawl (BT237); Seabird 19plus CTD; GoPro cameras x 2 with underwater housings and lights; and Scanmar trawl eye sensor. Objectives: To conduct an acoustic survey to estimate the abundance and distribution of herring in the north western North...

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  • Today is the day of the Seafarer

    25th June 2018 by

    MFV Altaire

    Today is the ‘Day of the Seafarer’ and to celebrate, we wanted to share a very special poem penned by our resident bard, net rigger and father of two Matt Kinghorn. It’s a little something for all of you who work at sea. Day of the Seafarer It’s not easy you know, going to sea, Maybe for some...

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  • Multi-tasking with the Scotia: Part 2

    22nd June 2018 by

    Scotia at Sea

    The second week on the Nephrops TV survey on Scotia was considerably less eventful than the first – thankfully! The work progressed well having travelled through the North Minch recovering and then deploying another COMPASS cetacean mooring at the Shiants, and then working down past Uist and Barra, replacing a third COMPASS mooring en route....

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  • What’s at our Disposal? The latest from the research vessel Alba na mara

    20th June 2018 by

    Alba na Mara

    Survey: 0918A Duration: 18 June – 1 July 2018 Sampling Gear: TV drop frame, TV winch and cable, 2 x day grabs and RoxAnn. Objectives To undertake grab, underwater television (UTV) and RoxAnn surveys of sea disposal sites and assess the condition of the seabed, identify the predominant benthic epifauna species, and the distribution of...

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  • Multi-tasking with the Scotia

    19th June 2018 by

    Scotia in Scapa Flow by Michael Stewart

    MRV Scotia left Aberdeen on 3rd June 2018 to begin survey 0818S – the ‘Annual Nephrops Underwater TV Survey’ (UWTV) – covering Fladen (North Sea), the North and South Minches, the Clyde, and the Sound of Jura. TV operations went well during the first day until the sea state worsened so the survey was halted until early on...

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  • Benthic Biotopes in Barra

    11th June 2018 by

    Alba na Mara

    Survey: 0818A Duration: 8 – 14 June 2018 Gear: Seatronics drop frame (to be loaded 05.06.18) – SNH hire Seatronics lights (to be loaded 05.06.18) – SNH hire HD TV system + lights (5 plastic cages) Armoured cable + spare + axle stands & bar Day grab + table + 2 x sieve drawers Background...

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  • What does one ware when you go to Arrochar?

    8th June 2018 by

    Litter collected on Arrochar beach - May 2018

    At the end of the last week in May, we – with help from a HUGE number of others including staff and volunteers from The GRAB Trust, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, Luss Estates, Marine Conservation Society, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Argyll and Bute Council, Zero Waste Scotland and the local community council – organised...

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  • Mackerel and Eggs on the Altaire

    29th May 2018 by

    MFV Altaire survey 0118H May 2018_5

    MFV Altaire departed Ullapool at 1400hrs on the 22nd May to begin survey 0118H. Onboard during this exploratory mackerel egg survey we have an international scientific complement including scientists from: Scotland, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands. Flowmeter calibration deployments were completed successfully in the Minch, west of Melvaig, and the Altaire is now proceeding to...

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  • Rockall and Mackerel

    28th May 2018 by

    MFV Altaire during survey 0118H May 2018_6

    Survey: 0118H MFV Altaire Duration: 22 May – 6 June 2018 Fishing/Sampling Gear: Gulf VII plankton sampler Objectives: To carry out standalone mackerel egg survey, on the western shelf and slope in the area from 52o N to 59o N (see Figure 1). Opportunistic trawling for adult mackerel samples; for exploratory ovary analysis. Procedures: After...

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  • Pipelines, Camera, Action

    25th May 2018 by

    Scotia in Scapa Flow by Michael Stewart

    Survey: 0718S Duration: 18- 31 May 2018 Gear: Day grabs TV drop frame with lasers Aarmoured cable Multibeam echosounder system EK 60 Conductivity, Pressure & Depth (CTD) device Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (VM-ADCP) Fish cages PT160 (trawl) Objectives: To assess the hydrographic influences on the aggregation of fish around surface laid oil and gas pipelines....

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