Marine

  • The Wonders Found when Deepwater Sampling – #1419S Survey Update

    18th October 2019 by

    Marine Scotland has undertaken its biannual trawl survey of the shelf slope to the west of the Hebrides. The purpose of the survey is to map the composition, distribution and abundance of continental slope species from the Donegal area to the Flannan isles providing catch data that informs management decisions. The initial part of the…

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  • Hydrographic Sampling in the Northern North Sea

    15th October 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Survey: 1519S Programme Duration: 14-24 October 2019 Gear: Sea-Bird Conductivity Temperature Depth units (CTDs), RBR CTD, Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) and current meter instrumentation, water filtering equipment, mooring equipment, chemistry sampling equipment. Objectives: Test the SBE911 and CTD carousel (main CTD crane) and the SBE25 and Aquatracker (using plankton crane) in the Buchan…

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  • Scotia Set for Deepwater Sampling

    28th September 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Survey: 1419S Programme Duration: 28 September – 11 October 2019 Objectives: Map the composition, distribution and abundance of continental slope species on the deepwater slope west of the Hebrides from Donegal to the Flannans (55–59oN) and Rosemary Bank (Figure 1). Collect samples (genetics and otoliths) of key species for population studies. Continue use of…

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  • Rockall Haddock Survey

    16th September 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Survey: 1319S Programme – Rockall Haddock Survey Duration: 14-26 September 2019 Fishing Gear: GOV (Grand Overture Verticale) Trawl (BT 137) with ground gear D Other Gear: CTD (Conductivity Temperature Depth)  – Seabird 19+ Van Veen Grab Objectives: Undertake a bottom trawl survey of haddock on Rockall Bank to a depth of 350 m. Deploy…

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  • Half-way there! Monitoring the West Shetland Shelf

    9th September 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Survey: 1219S (Times given are in Coordinated Universal Time (abbreviated to UTC), 24-hour format throughout.) With a full complement of staff aboard, including 19 officers and crew and a team of 11 scientists from Marine Scotland Science (MSS), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the National Museum of Scotland, MRV Scotia departed…

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  • We’ll be back! Our Return to the West Shetland Shelf

    30th August 2019 by

    MRV Scotia Survey: 1219S Programme Duration: 26 August – 11 September 2019 Introduction The survey plan outlines the monitoring survey requirements for West Shetland Shelf (WSS) Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). WSS has been identified for monitoring survey effort following discussion between Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Marine Scotland Science (MSS), taking into…

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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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  • Coring the Scotia on-board the Scotia

    16th August 2019 by

    It is 0300 in the morning and the MRV Scotia is steaming to the eastern section of the Fladen ground, in the central North Sea. We have received the go-ahead to run a short survey over the giant Scanner and Scotia pockmark complexes. These large conical shaped depressions found occasionally in the North Sea and…

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  • Scotia and Carbon

    13th August 2019 by

    The 1019S Scotia cruise (21–31 July) was a 10 day long oceanographic research cruise focusing on the role of carbon within the marine environment, primarily within the water column and marine sediments. I took part in this cruise in order to gather samples for use in my PhD research project from hot spot fishing grounds…

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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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