64PE370 - Diary 1

RV Pelagia left the harbor of Lisbon on 14 May for the first leg of the MedBlack GEOTRACES cruise program. The goal of this first leg is to measure the distribution of a large number of trace metals and exotic isotopes that are important for live in the oceans in the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea. We will do the same in the Black Sea and the northern part of the Mediterranean Sea during two following research cruises. During this cruise we will sample 38 stations starting in the Atlantic Ocean near Portugal and finishing in the harbor of Istanbul. We will take samples in the territorial waters of 13 different European and North African countries. For most of these countries we now have permission to sample. During our cruise we will also be visited by observers from Algeria and Turkey. Their respective navies are so kind to bring their observers to us while at sea so that we will not lose any time.

As during previous GEOTRACES cruises we will collect many samples for scientists all over the world. Some of these scientists are now on board of the RV Pelagia to take samples and measure them immediately on board of the ship. Aymen Saadi a scientist of the oceanographic institute INSTM (Tunisia) investigates among others which bacteria exists in the surface and close to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Nicolas Sanchez is a scientist from Norway (DC-NTNU) who investigates certain aspects of the Fe chemistry in seawater just as Hans Slagter, Patrick Laan en Micha Rijkenberg of NIOZ (Netherlands) do. Jan van Ooijen (NIOZ, Netherlands) measures the concentrations of the nutrients silicate, phosphate, nitrate and nitrite. Because the concentrations of phosphate, nitrate and nitrite are extremely low in the Mediterranean Sea, Joaquin Pampin (NOC, Southampton, UK) is on board to measure the lowest of these nutrient concentrations. Also many samples are take to measure trace metals which are only present in extremely low concentrations. Rob Middag and John Rolinson (University of Otago, New Zealand) measure aluminium on board and take samples for a whole range of other metals and isotopes. Gabriel Dulaquais (LEMAR IUM in Brest, France) collects samples for among others cobalt and copper and Marietta Anthoulas (Oceanographic Institute HCMR in Greece) will take samples for dissolved organic carbon. Nikki Clargo and Lesley Salt (NIOZ, Netherlands) measure the carbon dioxide system in the Mediterranean Sea to find out how human activity increases the concentration carbon dioxide. Pim Boute, a student from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) collects pigments of algae to find out which algae live in the Mediterranean Sea and how many there are of them. All this research wouldn't be possible without the assistance of the NIOZ specialists who handle our sampling equipment, Sven Ober and Ruud Groenewegen, and our winch, Leon Wuis and Marcel Bakker.

From the first day at sea, the Master of the RV Pelagia Pieter Kuijt and his crew have been fantastic in helping us to do our research. The officers Joep van Haaren and Lennert Bliemer have been working hard to sail us from the rough and cold North Atlantic Ocean to the flat and sunny Mediterranean Sea while the Engineers Martijn Heesemans and Inno Meyer make sure that the Pelagia's engine can keep up. The cook, Rik van Katwijk, and the steward, Alexandr Popov, make sure we are well fed. The crew Fred Hiemstra, Sjaak Maas and Lukas Riesthuis working with the Bosun Ger Vermeulen are irreplaceable for assisting us to collect samples and solve our technical problems on deck.

We just entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar. The picture here below shows the deployment of the ultra clean CTD on the first station that we sample under sunny conditions in the Mediterranean near the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain can be seen on the horizon.

Micha Rijkenberg

Photo: Micha Rijkenberg