Give me an “I”, give me an “F”……
This is an angle that is very rarely talked about but I thought it was something that folks may find interesting: The reintegration into society! It sounds strange but we have lived a very intense and unusual life for 5 weeks. There are some strange things that you notice when you get back onto land. Continue reading
When you are working in the field you are vulnerable to the environment that you are in. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches. This is the time for seat-of-your-pants science; on-the-spot experimental design, new goals on the fly and planning of optimum time and resource use. It’s not what anyone wants but it’s where science gets sexy and a lot of interesting discoveries are made. Continue reading
…in French (Leg 1, Leg 2) and English (Leg 1, Leg 2). These will give some more scientific background information to the BobEco cruise.
In the frantic offshore life of long shifts at awkward hours, drawing graphs plotting that thing against that other thing, and telling a poor ROV pilot that you would like him to use a huge robotic arm to grab that little speck (“not that one, the other one, yes, the one that’s swimming away…..grab it!”), do we ever find the time for harmony, for inner peace in body and mind? Continue reading
We are now within the Celtic sea, the French part of it at least. I didn’t know there was a French part of the Celtic sea but it turns out there is, and I am in it. Continue reading
The next area we investigated was the Lampaul canyon. Here we started at over 2,000m depth and followed the canyon up its axis, getting shallower and shallower. Our main interest here was geological. I know very little about this side of things but even I could see sudden changes in the rocks of the area. Continue reading
A vessel of this size contains many different worlds, each overlapping but potentially invisible. I have been onboard for weeks and I still see people at meals who I have never seen before! There is far more going on here than I am aware of. Continue reading
The Victor ROV has been brought back onboard and been refitted for a biological survey. The machine really is very well designed; you have the main body of the machine, housing all the communication, positioning, cameras and thrusters and then an interchangeable sled-like bottom. Continue reading
We gathered in Brest, France on the 9th of September; a diverse group of scientists from all over Europe. The CoralFISH project has been active now for about 3 years, and due to the relatively small world of ocean science it is getting harder and harder to join a vessel where you do not know anyone. So the day of mobilisation was also one of reunions. We get to play the regular game of “I know you, but where from?” sometimes this will go on for the first few days of the cruise! Continue reading
CE 100014 Cruise Blog- Week 2
Another eventful week has been had onboard the Celtic Explorer! Life beyond the science is now typically tinged with cabin-fever but without the sea sickness! Continue reading
