23 June - important records

Tuesday, June 23rd, Wyville-Thomson Ridge
By Julia Calderwood, data scientist, BODC

Well the end of the first leg of D340 is fast approaching and we will soon be heading south again, completing a final few CTDs along the way, before reaching Oban. This has been my first experience of life on board an oceanographic research vessel and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. The regular 4am starts to staff the watch system we have in place have been a bit tough at times but working at such a northerly latitude during the month of June has meant it has always been light as I have been dragging myself out of my cabin making it a little easier to wake myself up!

I work at BODC along with Mark, who in an earlier blog explained about our role in maintaining accurate records of all of the sampling and work that takes place on ship, and so far during this cruise a lot of work has been squeezed in (as can be seen from the continuing growth of this blog). Other than a short break in sampling caused by bad weather and some rather large waves CTDs have been entering and exiting the water around the clock, the ship’s underway system has been constantly pumping water from the near surface measuring parameters such as temperature, salinity and fluorescence, and various incubations and experiments have been running on board in the numerous labs. Seeing so much going on has been a great learning experience giving me an incredibly useful insight into the exact runnings of a cruise. As a relatively new member of staff at BODC, only starting last September, seeing the work being carried out on board first hand has certainly helped put the work I have been doing back in the office for the last nine months in greater context.

Although a lot of the scientific staff are starting to get ready to leave the ship I am staying on for the second leg and have just under two weeks left on board. It is a shame that as we are all getting to know each other a lot of people are leaving as there has been a really friendly and relaxed atmosphere on board. There will be lot of new scientific staff boarding in Oban though, all ready to collect lots more data on the second leg for us to keep track of! I am just hoping that as we steam up and down the Western Isles there will be quite a few repeats of the whale watching experience we were treated to yesterday afternoon…

Photo
Taking a regular salinity sample from the ship’s underway system.