Cruise Diary
The cruise diary provides you with the latest news and stories from our colleagues on board RV Pelagia. The contributions may be either in Dutch or in English, depending on the author.
The cruise diary provides you with the latest news and stories from our colleagues on board RV Pelagia. The contributions may be either in Dutch or in English, depending on the author.
Before I left, this cruise was ringing in my head what you or your friends can imagine about a trip from the mouth of the Tagus River to the entrance of the Bosphorus: a stroll through the tranquil Mediterranean waters along lands where orange trees bloom.
In Pelagia, life on board is easier thanks to the warm welcome given by our colleagues from NIOZ, and the crew who are doing a great job, looking after every detail. It is a pleasure to share this kind of projects with so many professional workers.
It is Tuesday 28th of 2013. I joined the RV Pelagia on the departure from Texel Island in the Netherlands on the 8th of May, which is 21 days of sailing so far.
Indeed, after a few hours of bad weather my hunch was confirmed, a walk on the deck overlooking the ocean along with the dolphins which kept us company under the Mediterranean sun, a chat with my colleagues on the deck and the full moon, all these things told me that things will go well.
I was thrilled to hear that I could join a scientific cruise organised by the NIOZ and participate to the GEOTRACES programme. This would be an excellent opportunity and wonderful experience for a marine biologist at the University of Groningen.
We are currently near station 10 southwest of Sardinia and the wind seems to be slacking off after the force-9-to-10 of last night. All quite different from what I imagined a cruise through the Mediterranean sun would be like.
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.
It's the last day of the last CHARLET cruise. Time to finish the last experiments and start packing and cleaning to leave the Pelagia in a good condition.
Today, the second of May 2013, the last CTD of the Charlet-4 cruise has been brought up from great depths to reveal its secrets to us.
Diatoms are single-celled but can form long chains, which has been shown to reduce the grazing pressure, although some grazers like the larger sized diatom structure that is the result of chain formation.