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oceans

Fair winds and following seas

In many ways the work of an oceanographer hasn’t changed since the early days of the discipline when a team of scientists sailed for several years across ocean basins making spot measurements of depth and salinity; hauling up strange creatures from the depths. We still ‘sail’ in rather larger science teams for much shorter periods of time. The rhythm of work on a ship and the lowering and hauling of wires is very familiar. Continue reading →

Five things we’ve learnt about the oceans in the last 25 years

It’s early 1993 and I am sailing across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Royal Research Ship Charles Darwin on my first deep-sea adventure. The late Harry Elderfield is our chief scientist and we are mapping out the newly discovered hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and sampling the plumes that waft upwards from the hot seafloor vents. We tow our sensors on frames hanging from conducting wires that are kilometres long, gradually building up a picture of the plumes. Continue reading →

Blue Planet | Episode 4 | Big Blue

The open ocean may seem like a vast, featureless wasteland to us outsiders, but its inhabits are intrepid navigators that use its structures to embark on some of the most epic journeys known to science. Leatherback turtles have been shown to migrate across the entire Pacific Ocean. Two hatchling leatherbacks were once tracked moving 39km in 34 hours and 82km in 39 hours, an extraordinary distance for a baby weighing less than 40g in one of the first days of its life. Continue reading →