Marine

  • Skate Research: Survey in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura MPA

    19th September 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Survey: 1619A Programme Duration: 24-30 September 2019 Background and Objectives: Survey 1619A will conduct a benthic survey of juvenile common skate within and around the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area (hereafter referred to as MPA). The primary objective of survey 1619A is to assess the…

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  • Juvenile Fish Habitat

    3rd September 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Survey: 1519A Programme Duration: 2-21 September 2019 Gear: 2 x Jackson Rockhopper Trawl BT158 with 10 mm Cod end + Spare Scanmar net sensors – trawl width, height, and depth (x2 units) 2 fleets of fish traps Fish/prawn sorting table SBRUV – baited camera frames – (QTY 2) 2 x Day grab,…

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  • Prey Species across Smith Bank

    30th August 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Survey: 1419A Programme Duration: 27-30 August 2019 Locations: Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL); Moray East Offshore Windfarm (MEOW); Moray West Offshore Windfarm (MWOW). Objectives Primary Objectives: Study the distribution of prey species (fish schools and zooplankton patches) across Smith Bank in relation to data available from BOWL post-construction digital aerial surveys…

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  • Scotia’s Hunt for Organic Carbon

    21st August 2019 by

    I am a second-year PhD student at the University of St Andrews and was recently very fortunate to be one of the research scientists aboard the Scotia 1019S survey that took us across Scotland’s seas at the end of July. Following an unpredictable summer, we weren’t sure of what to expect weather-wise at sea. However,…

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  • Nephrops on the East Coast – An Update

    20th August 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Programme Survey 1319A Duration: 8-24 August 2019 The annual Alba na Mara East Coast Nephrops Underwater TV survey returns once again.  A very busy week has been spent in the Firth of Forth working under challenging conditions at times, but despite 40kt easterly gales plenty of headway was made with the planned…

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  • Nephrops on the East Coast

    9th August 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Programme   Survey 1319A Duration: 8-24 August 2019   Objectives: To obtain estimates of the distribution and abundance of Nephrops burrows in the Firth of Forth and the Moray Firth using underwater camera. To use the TV footage to record the occurrence of other benthic fauna and evidence of commercial trawling activity….

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  • Scotia Amongst the Fjords

    5th August 2019 by

    I was one of 11 scientists on-board the MRV Scotia seeking to better understand carbon dynamics in the sediments and water column around Scotland. My personal goal was to sample sea lochs (fjords) around the northern and western coast of Scotland. Fjords are globally recognised as hotspots for the burial and storage of organic carbon…

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  • Clicking with Marine Mammals

    31st July 2019 by

    MRV Alba na Mara Survey: 1219A Duration: 25 July – 05 August 2019 Objectives: Retrieve and deploy a series of acoustic release systems (22 subsurface moorings) with attached acoustic recording devices (22 C-POD, 7 sound recorder) as part of the ECOMMAS (East Coast Marine Mammal Acoustic Study), JOMOPANS (Joint Monitoring Programme for Ambient Noise North…

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  • Getting to know the Herring and Sprat

    19th July 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Survey: 0919S Programme Duration: 27 June – 19 July 2019 Sampling Gear: Midwater trawls PT160 x 3 Demersal trawl (BT237) Scanmar trawl eye sensor SIMRAD FS70 net sonde x 2 RBR-Concerto CTD with Dissolved Oxygen probe Water sampler for collecting water samples from bottom of CTD dips GoPro cameras x 2 with underwater…

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  • Surveying in the Moray Firth Wind Farm Sites

    17th July 2019 by

    Marine Scotland Science (MSS) colleagues and University of Aberdeen (UoA) postgraduate students set sail on the Alba na Mara to undertake a multi-disciplinary survey within the Moray Firth wind farm sites from the 8th – 12th of June 2019.  The aim of this survey was to characterise the distribution of the prey species (fish schools,…

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