15 June - Hatton Bank

Monday, 15th June 2009, Hatton Bank

  By Jamie MacRae and Karl Attard, undergrad students at SAMS


I suppose this cruise started for us at 12:35pm on Friday 5th of June- when, 5 minutes after the end of our final exam of the semester, we set off on a bus to Glasgow to catch an airport connection.

No rush then!

Fifteen and a half hours later, we stepped out of Keflavik airport and, slightly dazed in the 4am daylight, breathed the air of Iceland. We were here. We were going on a scientific cruise. Three days of sightseeing around Reykjavik cured our post exam lethargy, and on Tuesday 10th we boarded the RRS Discovery ready to sail the next day.

As undergraduate students, our roles on this cruise are supplementary to the research of the various PhD students and scientists on board. We are responsible for collecting and analysing samples for dissolved Oxygen, Chlorophyll-a and Particulate Organic Carbon (POC). Our data for dissolved Oxygen will be used to calibrate the Oxygen sensor situated on the CTD so that more accurate readings can be made. The Chlorophyll-a and POC data will be used to estimate the abundance of phytoplankton in the water column.

On a typical day, we get up at seven for breakfast at 7:30 – full cooked if you’re that way inclined, or a slightly more stomach friendly fruit and cereal. Then it’s up to the wet room or main lab to process any samples taken for us by the night watch from the CTD casts that run through the night (thanks guys!). After this we prepare for the first CTD cast of the day, which usually consists of at least five people and a very orderly scramble for water samples. Then it’s back to the lab for processing, with a break for lunch at 12. The collection and processing continues throughout the day – as the CTD casting is almost continuous. A break for dinner and maybe a DVD from the mammoth collection onboard before bed and then it’s to sleep – ready to get up and do it all over again!

As budding scientists, it is interesting to see how research across various disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics are conducted. All crew and scientists onboard have been fantastic, and the vast abundance of wildlife in and above the waters has kept us on our toes! We are hugely looking forward to the next 10 days...

Finally, regards go out to friends and family- communication is limited with no internet and mobile connections!