Tracking rates of nitrogen fixation in the South East Atlantic

Saturday 4th March 2023 The sixth and final week of research cruise M187. On 27.02 we had our last station at the most western point of our cruise transect (5 °W, 26.7 °S), in the highly oligotrophic waters of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre. These seawaters are strongly depleted in bioavailable nitrogen, which limits phytoplankton […]

Gradients in ocean nutrient limitation

6th weekly report (19.02.2023 – 25.02.2023) Saturday 25th February 2023 The fifth week of the research expedition M187: we have been making progress with the transect we are conducting outwards into the South Atlantic subtropical gyre. We plan a total of 11 stations along this section, starting from where we finished the two filament studies […]

Tracking the biogeochemical evolution of an ocean filament

A satellite image of the studied filament (SST = Sea Surface Temperature).

+++ deutsche Version siehe unten+++ 2nd weekly report (29.01.2023 – 04.02.2023) Monday 6th February 2023 The second week of the research cruise M187 started with continued observation of the first targeted filament located around 24–25 °S. This filament has been a major and persistent feature in satellite images over the last few weeks, extending more […]

Sampling the water column in the South East Atlantic

The CTD (short for Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) is a central instrument for most oceanic research. It infers the salinity from conductivity and measures, in addition to temperature and depth, oxygen, florescence and much more! Furthermore, it has 24 big bottles (10 L) attached to it, allowing for water collection from specific depths, which then in turn can […]

Departure for RV Meteor cruise M187 from Walvis Bay, Namibia

Stern view from Research Vessel Meteor during the departure from Walvis Bay.

Thursday 26th January 2023 After an evening departure from Walvis Bay yesterday and a first ‘test’ station not far from the coast, we are now heading south, hunting for so-called filaments to track. The overarching aim of our research cruise is to investigate these features: elongated finger-shaped structures of cold seawater that penetrate outwards from […]

PART 2 The Boys are back in Town

+++english version below+++ Der nächste Reiseabschnitt begann mit einem überraschenden Twist – Im Zoll verschollen geglaubte Seismometer, standen nun doch zur Abholung im Hafen von Vancouver bereit – den wir aber bereits verlassen hatten. Es wurde beschlossen, dass wir außerplanmäßig eine zweitägige Detour nach Vancouver antreten würden. Wie ich im bereits gesagt habe – sei […]

QA Marine Mammal Protection and mitigation measures for SO294

Group Photo Marine Mammal observer

Deutsche Fassung siehe unten 1. What steps are you taking to make sure this research doesn’t pose a risk to marine mammals in the area? The project is taking stringent measures to ensure the safety of marine mammals during the operation of our instruments and research activities. Airguns are acoustic devices that emit sound waves […]