23 June 2018

We are on the way!

Two days ago we brought all our stuff to the RV Pelagia, laying in the harbor of the NIOZ (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) on Texel. The RV Pelagia is the flagship of NIOZ. With an overall length of 66 m the ship is suited for research on both coastal seas and open oceans. We started yesterday to our 10-days cruise on the North Sea, not that far away, staying close to the shelf.

On the left picture you see the initial cruise planning of Pelagia 64PE-439. The right shows the actual postion now. You can follow Pelagia at

https://www.marinefacilitiesplanning.com/programme/map

It is always exciting to prepare your stuff and work on board. Each ship and each cruise is different, you will never know how it will be and if you get all the samples you have planned for. Maybe the weather is too bad to deploy your equipment, maybe your instruments break, containers are not in time, problems with the custom, or – worst case for yourself and even you have double checked everything – you forgot packing essential parts. There are a lot of things, which can go wrong, so next to a plan B also a plan C can be useful!

But luckily, in most cases issues can be solved and working on board is really fun. It is different from working at your home lab, more intensive and with a great view. I have to admit, I´m biased! You either really like it or you hate it. To my experience there is not that much in between (correct me, if I´m wrong).

Left: stuff at the harbor, ready to be boarded. Right: setting up the tubings for continuous measurements of methane.

The first night, still in the harbour, was (almost) without ship movements, so we slept well. In the morning of 22 June we were busy with setting up everything and make our stuff ready for the rough weather, which is predicted for the upcoming two days.

Directly after leaving at around 14.00 we got a first impression about the difference of being on a ship, which is laying in the harbor and being on a ship outside. Although your mind is willing, the rest of your body is sometimes not. So we used the first day for continuous sampling of methane and let the machine do its work.

Today, 23 June, it is much more relaxed, the weather calmed down and we are measuring. During the night we passed by some oil platforms, and in the morning the horizon was full of ships and wind mills. So no “really away from civilisation” feelings can come up.

Last things were set up, and we will measure during the next week not only continuously for methane and carbon dioxide, but also take atmospheric samples and water samples. Next to our own (exciting) work, it is also interesting to see what the others are doing. On the right you see colleagues  evaluating the first sediment core, taken to learn more about the history of the North See.

So we will keep you updated about our life on board!

Sylvia and Hossein