Today was officially my day off ....... day off in the laboratory with the studs!!!!!! My partner in crime was on her own... but with the help of Dr John Williams , one of my old tutors at Southampton......... one of the most awesome guys on the planet........ looks like the dracula grandad off The Munsters......... but mucho respect......... hes the dude!
So I was on hand with my expertise to assist and guide the eager young students!!! So I was Matt's little helper for the day........!!! Matt is the heart of the laboratory here, nothing pumps properly without him here to organise the show!!!! If it aint done right, the students have no results!!! Photos will follow of all the people involved!
So fellow Sahfonians... you will be pleased to know that the book of choice here for the zoo. is Todd and Laverack!!!!
So while working on my own stuff....... a gasp aired from one peticular student...... she found something very strange..... nothing ever seen in the zooplankton realm before............. It was............ a terrestrial fly...................... I should have pretended it was a baby flying fish as you could see the wings........ yeah flying fish in Falmouth, that'd be a first!!
So then to the town of Falmouth......... and taking a break in 'Jam', record store-come art shop- come-coffee shop............... excellent................... and talking to the locals about mammal and shark sightings etc................... then back to my lodgings for dinner............ I tell you its great living with the ships crew... myself and Steph are getting our dinner cooked every night!!
Then as the sun came down, myself and Marc, one of the other PhD students, whipped the behinds of every one at pool............................... and Matt the man managed to take care of an old issue and ran the lap of hounour as he won the biggest game of pool in his life!!!
Its 12.30 am and we are eating chocolate cheescake
xx
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Monday, 9 July 2007
Day 6 : Sunday downtime (not)
Well today was 'Discover Oceanography' day............... The R.V. Callista relies on sponsorship from other institutions, whether it is scientific, media etc.......... to provide trips out for kids......... a really great idea because, maybe I would have discovered oceanography a little earlier ?!
So Team Callista were on standby to impress the big people who make decisions for their respective companies!!!
So we had of course, the wonderful Maria smoozing them with a wealth of knowledge of the microscopic kind.............. and the rest of the hot ladies doing their bit!! This was a pretty great day because we had on board other academics who obviously knew their thang, but maybe wanted to be a little more impressed as such well enough to part with the notes baby .......... iIthink we did a great job........ and I did a bit of networking... both for myself and the Callista team, who are pretty amazing ..... and lets not forget the R.V. Bill Conway team, who are just as amazing......... In fact, one member of the Bill Conway is actually Harrison Ford........ photos will follow soon!!! So yeah Sunday was a bit different, less hectic............. and still reading zero on the sharkometer, damn................................
But we had a charming old lady on board part of the PRB (Purple Rinse Brigade), who had some interesting info on sightings of basking sharks in the area........... none have been sighted since late may in the area.......... which is unusual this time of year................... so myself and Steph (my partner in crime) will have to do some serious digging to work out why......... well we have a few theories so far....................... but it just hurts to think that I may never see one here!!! Come on people will the sharks to appear.....we need everyone to think positive at the same time ............. I tell you who we need ..... we need the man himself............ NOEL EDMUNDS........ HE WILL SURELY HELP US.......................
Maria is on the case!!!!
bye movers and groovers, keep logging on and commenting.......
So Team Callista were on standby to impress the big people who make decisions for their respective companies!!!
So we had of course, the wonderful Maria smoozing them with a wealth of knowledge of the microscopic kind.............. and the rest of the hot ladies doing their bit!! This was a pretty great day because we had on board other academics who obviously knew their thang, but maybe wanted to be a little more impressed as such well enough to part with the notes baby .......... iIthink we did a great job........ and I did a bit of networking... both for myself and the Callista team, who are pretty amazing ..... and lets not forget the R.V. Bill Conway team, who are just as amazing......... In fact, one member of the Bill Conway is actually Harrison Ford........ photos will follow soon!!! So yeah Sunday was a bit different, less hectic............. and still reading zero on the sharkometer, damn................................
But we had a charming old lady on board part of the PRB (Purple Rinse Brigade), who had some interesting info on sightings of basking sharks in the area........... none have been sighted since late may in the area.......... which is unusual this time of year................... so myself and Steph (my partner in crime) will have to do some serious digging to work out why......... well we have a few theories so far....................... but it just hurts to think that I may never see one here!!! Come on people will the sharks to appear.....we need everyone to think positive at the same time ............. I tell you who we need ..... we need the man himself............ NOEL EDMUNDS........ HE WILL SURELY HELP US.......................
Maria is on the case!!!!
bye movers and groovers, keep logging on and commenting.......
Sunday, 8 July 2007
Day 5 (again):The Hoff has returned as my chemistry prof!
Health and Safefty must be taken seriously at all costs!!!! Right Dickie.............
Day 5: Visuals
Amazingly we spotted a tornado forming when we arrived in the harbour..... it was just forming when when this photo was forming............. when i had my back turned it funnelled right down to the land I assume...... pretty awesome!!!
Forgot about the footie game..... someone didnt zoom, im there 6th from the right!! taking onn the men!
Forcing Lesley to help Claire eat the makerel raw....... its all fun on the Callista
We managed to somehow find stowaways in the bow ?!
The boys and their bongo nets! 'get your bongo nets on the air'
It looks like some strange marine creature but no its the bongo nets in the water
We decided to water bomb R.V Bill Conway (just for fun)
Day 5: Saturday, its saturday, saturday, its work!!
Today was pretty good on the weather front, the group we had were confident and experienced and were pretty fun!! We pushed way out today to get some deep readings for the group..... had to let a few cargo ships past as we approached the shipping lane...... and we had our sights on seeing some Orcas (killer whales).................... but again, zero on the sharkometer and any other kind of marine creature!!! We had a few scavenging seabirds but that was it!!
Take a look at me on the binocs..... yeah baby!
Fising was the thing of the day and Claire (our resident physics person) caught some makerel........... I was on mega watch and you can see me in fuill satem with the binocs.......... its pretty great being at sea when it is virtually flat calm.............
The group had trouble getting the vertical haul net into the sea for a surface trawl so we used whats called 'bongo nets'. they lay side by side and colect phyto (plant) and zoo (animal) plankton due to different mesh sizes (the science bit) .............. man they were like soup!! Today was great..... we finished the night off with a very fancy meal in Falmouth.... 'le bistro sur la mer' ... were i enjoyed a kilo of the finest mussels!!! Well one must be rewarded for hard work!!
More photos to come folksxx
Friday, 6 July 2007
Day 4 (Friday 6th): Sunshine at last
Sunshine at last..... yes basking shark weather!!!! We had a somewhat non- enthusiastic bunch of students today who really shouldnt have been let loose on a boat!!! But it takes time to get adjusted and they are just learning to commandere a research cruise, but I think we all were very tired after all the bad weather and days of feeling ill!!!
Ocean spray from the back of the boat!
Steph- asleep on the job!
Today was a bit of a success, because of a force 8 again, we had to abandon plans and surveyed quite close to the shore, but again the sharkometer registered a zero :( :( :(
All was not doom and gloom though, we did see some grey seals both in the water and basking in the sunshine (see above, you can see the adult peering at the ship, look to the right edge of the rocks, we couldnt get too close due to the rocks themselves) and about 15 guillemots (sea birds)... so at least that can be logged!!
I continued with my plankton samples as normal.................. and also continued to devour the crews supply of jammy dodgers, gingernuts, choco bars, hot chocolate............ the sea air does make one very hungry!!
The group decided to venture into the River Helford and perform analysis from river to estuary to sea!! We seen another seal, but we had a major casualty, my team mate Steph, suspected food poisoning from a tesco chicken and sweetcorn sandwich filler... we found her asleep on the bow, check out the photos!! She is still in bed!
Ocean spray from the back of the boat!
Steph- asleep on the job!
Day 3: Rocking and rolling
The dates are a bit mixed guys because I could'nt get on to complete the web blog...... so day 3 in your minds is actually Thursday 5th July!
This is our skipper Graham opposite!
I forgot to mention yesterday, the massive plankton bloom we found right down to 20 m, it was quite inshore......... but no sharks were sighted!!! So to forget about a zero on the sharkometer, I decided to play footie for the staff side, I was the only female on the pitch...... a female Ronaldo, as I set up a few shots and saved one goal and tackled some of the bigger guys.... yes the staff lost 6-1 but I saved one goal!!
In the marina, we bumped into an awesome rib.... It was a tourist rib ferrying tourists to and fro around the coast looking for cetaceans and sharks... in the last 2 weeks he has sighted no basking sharks so it was a bit of a gloomy start to the day and it was still wet!!! Things are not as they should be in our seas right now was the gentlemans response, they had had numerous sightings 4 weeks ago but with the weather and earlier plankton blooms....... right now they were seeing nothing!
So today was not a good day, I was ill again as it was very choppy and the students had to change their plans due to weather conditions, not a great day for seeing basking sharks!! Although close to shore we did spot a fin.... but it disappeared so fast we didnt get a proper look, but we remained optimistic......... we would find these sharks and sample plankton in their vacinity.... we had considered buying a shark suit and getting in the water, or maybe using one fo our eager students to do it for us with the prospect of getting a 70% for their fieldcourse!! But none obliged!!!
So it was off to the filedcourse quiz and after a thrashing on the footie pitch, my team thrashed both higher members of the academic food chain and all the students!!!
Day 2: The Science bit
So for the science bit!!!
The reason I am taking part in this scientific exploration is because of the great Basking Shark, Cetorhinus maximus........ great latin name!!! There have been concerns over the population of this shark so it has prompted a need to understand population distribution, habitat preference and centres of abundance. Surface sightings show 'hotspots' in close inshore areas of Devon and Cornwall. So as part of Seawatch SW, which an effort based survey studying sightings of cetaceans, sharks and birds, I was sent to accompany an MSc Student and aid her in data collation. Why me? Well, where do I start......im fabulous.....multi talented :) no really as plankton analyst, I study the distribution of phyto/ zooplankton (the little microscopic beasties in the sea)..... basking sharks feed on the zooplankton, they do not eat man!!! So if we expect the coasts of the SW to be 'hotspots' for these sharks, then as they go where the food goes, and if we find high densities of zooplankton, then thats where we find the sharks............... So I am here to take charge of the plankton analysis!
The fieldtrip also includes 100 second year students bursting with enthusiasm to become great oceanographers... so it was part of my job to unleash the beasts within them!! They come here every year to obtain extensive data sets from the estuary, to inshore to the outer shore!!!
(So now a very shortened version of the oceanographic measurements we take.... this webblog is not big enough to hold all the data) We measure: dissolved oxygen, pH, and nutrients. By using a CTD instrument we collect vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, depth, we use these meaurements to give us a complete picture of the water column. We also measure the concentration of plant pigments in the water. We use of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP)... this machine measures how fast water is moving in an entire water column and by measuring the backscatter from this device, we can see where the plankton are present in the entire water column!! By using the CTD to produce a thermo-salinograph and keeping in mind the results from the ADCP....... we know at what depths we need to take vertical zooplankton hauls!!!!
Ok, thats a very bitesize version of the science!!! Take a look at the photos of the boat and the plankton net.
Today at sea was again pretty rough and very wet, but we have to work in all weathers, we ventured out to approximatley 10 nautical miles offshore but a Force 8 was forcast and it was very choppy, so we came back closer to the shore..... I had a few casualties aboard, 3 students were down, well at least it was not me this time! The skipper of the boat is an amazing chap indeed, and for our pleasure as we steamed closer to the coast, with very little view outside due to the sea spray and 3 students being sick over the sides.... he switched on the ships boom box and blasted out Guns'n'Roses..... 'welcome to the jungle'...... surreal indeed but this memory will stay with me for a long time!
And so it was decided that every time we hit rough seas, this would be the anthem...... we discussed the potential of using some of his other 'softer' rock collection to entice the sharks to the boat by pumping the music underwater... yeah we are gonna work on that!
The ship The zooplankton net
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Day 1: The journey begins
Arrival on Monday evening at the centre in Falmouth and being greeted with my old buddies, The A- team, the old sea dogs.... yes both myself and Stephanie would be lodging with the ships crew... of course this meant great food and great company and if doing research on any vessel, one must always be on the good side of the ships crew...... yes this trip would be great!!
So back to earth with a bang and Tuesday roared into view at 7 am in the morning, the wind beating the window and the prospect of potentially going 10 miles offshore....... great! With a quick cup of tea and a slice of toast (well if it was going to rough at sea, I certainly was going to have a light breakfast) we trudged to the laboratory, picked up all the equipment and set sail in the National Oceanography Centre minibus, destination, Falmouth marina to board the spanking new vessel, R.V. Callista.
After a long period of being a land creature, my sea legs had become rather flacid! So I will save the job description and the science bit for all non-sci people reading this or in fact non-marine people. Unfortunately the first day at sea ended with maria in the foetal position on the upper deck looking slightly green............................ yes I was indeed feeling very ill :( Luckily, the wave of nausea did not hit until late in the day and I had the chance to survey what we had to do for the next two weeks.
So I was to head to the supermarket and load my trolley with any foodstuff that contained ginger. This natural remedy has been used by the Chinese for years and it prevents dizziness and soothes that queasy stomach!! The only other remedy is to go out on the bow and look to the flat horizon... however, since four years had passed between the Skipper, Graham and myself, I think it was pay back time for stealing all the ginger buscuits and other sweets that the crew always had generously kept in their quarters. A walk on the bow turned into a salty shower as Graham moved the ship toward the oncoming wave, the only thing in its path...... me........... safe to say, my sea sickness passed in an instant!!!
So back to earth with a bang and Tuesday roared into view at 7 am in the morning, the wind beating the window and the prospect of potentially going 10 miles offshore....... great! With a quick cup of tea and a slice of toast (well if it was going to rough at sea, I certainly was going to have a light breakfast) we trudged to the laboratory, picked up all the equipment and set sail in the National Oceanography Centre minibus, destination, Falmouth marina to board the spanking new vessel, R.V. Callista.
After a long period of being a land creature, my sea legs had become rather flacid! So I will save the job description and the science bit for all non-sci people reading this or in fact non-marine people. Unfortunately the first day at sea ended with maria in the foetal position on the upper deck looking slightly green............................ yes I was indeed feeling very ill :( Luckily, the wave of nausea did not hit until late in the day and I had the chance to survey what we had to do for the next two weeks.
So I was to head to the supermarket and load my trolley with any foodstuff that contained ginger. This natural remedy has been used by the Chinese for years and it prevents dizziness and soothes that queasy stomach!! The only other remedy is to go out on the bow and look to the flat horizon... however, since four years had passed between the Skipper, Graham and myself, I think it was pay back time for stealing all the ginger buscuits and other sweets that the crew always had generously kept in their quarters. A walk on the bow turned into a salty shower as Graham moved the ship toward the oncoming wave, the only thing in its path...... me........... safe to say, my sea sickness passed in an instant!!!
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