Life on board – Paris

What would an oceanographer be, without participating at least on one research cruise? That was my thought when I started my PhD in January 2013. As the samples for my project had already been collected before I started my studies at NOCS (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton), the prospects of going on board and explore the oceans were rather dim! Or so I thought…!

It was one month after my start that I was asked to take part in the James Cook 85 cruise (JC085) at the NE Atlantic and more specific the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Area, where my whole project is actually based. The cruise was to start on the 14th of April (2013) from Southampton and finish on the 29th of April in Glasgow. I was overwhelmed with joy and I could already imagine me like the new Jacques Cousteau.

The cruise was going to last just 16 days (about the minimum duration for a research cruise in deep waters) which I thought might be a good start for someone who has never been on a ship before. In order to join the ship, I had medical examination (always good, even if you are not going on the ship) as well as sea-survival training (fun times at the Warsash Maritime Academy!).

Older PhD students who had been on a cruise before gave me a piece of advice: on a ship you always have to have with you seasick tablets. And so I did…!

Upon arriving on the ship I familiarised myself with the area (decks, cabins, common rooms) introduced myself to the other scientists that were going to be with me for the next 2 weeks, and started working. Boxes had to be tied up, equipment had to be transferred in order to be readily available when needed etc. In short, everything had to be in order for later use.

The first days were quite rough, with huge waves shaking our lovely ship, making even seasoned crew members feeling ill.

I was seasick as well and if I had to choose one word to describe the whole process of sea-sickness, it would be: Misery! Luckily it did not last long (2 days) (thank you seasick tablets and ginger beer!) and after that I was fully operational and ready to rock! However, I had to wait two more days until we arrived at the PAP area.

As soon as we arrived, everyone on the ship became more active and we finally started doing what they were supposed to do: SCIENCE!

I was involved in the benthic part of it which included:

1. Megacorer deployment

 

This piece of equipment is used in order collect sediment samples (see left picture) from the bottom of the ocean. Studies for macrofauna (anything than is retained in a sieve with mesh size of 300 μm, usually invertebrates) as well as meiofauna (anything that passes through 300 μm but is retained in 32 μm, usually foraminiferans and nematodes). The team responsible for this is posing for you in the picture above!

2. Amphipod traps

   

As can be seen from the picture, four amphipod traps were deployed on the seafloor, all using fish as a bait (hence it is a trap!). Depending on the the number of amphipods that aggregate at a given time interval in each of the four traps, along with their orientation of each trap relative to the seafloor, we get important information about amphipod density and ecology.

3. Otter trawl

By far the most exciting part was the trawl. The whole procedure took ages, but when the trawl arrived on the deck, it was full of deep-sea treasures (see pic below): crabs, starfish, ugly/scary deep-sea fish (albeit when you see them live you realise how small they are) and of course huge sea cucumbers (see 2nd pic below). I was a strange feeling holding in your hands something that lives 5000 m beneath the sea surface. It was a truly unique experience and for me the highlight of the cruise.

  A best-of the things you get from a trawl.

 A sea-cucumber

In many cases I had to wake up at 3 in the night, as our shift was usually between 4 am to 4 pm. With lots of coffee, anything is possible though!

Apart from the processes that I was involved I looked with great interest at what other scientific groups did and helped whenever I could. Cooperation and team spirit was luckily present and at the end I had made some good friends.

During evenings we very often saw movies in the DVD-room, played cards, went to the gym or simply chatted while having a beer with the rest of the scientists and crew members. Food was great and the all the cooks were really friendly (they also listened to old school rock n roll, which is always a plus).

After 16 days, our journey came to and end and we returned back at NOCS. Not before taking a picture with all the scientists together, though!

In conclusion, being on a research cruise is great fun and I would recommend it to every oceanographer! The only things that is in my to-do list, is go with a submersible in the deep and witness everything live and in motion.

Sources:

Jacques Cousteau: http://www.danocreative.com/art/?p=468

Sea-surival course: http://www.sunsail.co.uk/sailing-schools/shorebased/rya-sea-survival

Seasick: http://www.esquire.com/features/Dilemmas/seasick-0808#slide-1

Megacorer: http://www.classroomatsea.net/JC010/features/megacorer.html

Amphipod trap: http://noc.ac.uk/news/rrs-james-cook-cruise-062-4-august-2011 and http://ecomar2010.wordpress.com/page/3/

Trawl: http://www.oceanlab.abdn.ac.uk/blog/?p=133

Sea cucumber: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_cucumber