Southampton

An international study conducted during the Census of Marine Life project SYNDEEP has concluded that human activities are increasingly affecting deep-sea habitats, resulting in the potential for biodiversity loss and, with this, the loss of many goods and services provided by deep-sea ecosystems.

The new findings, published in the scientific journal…

Having joined the research cruise in Cork a few days ago I’ve been settling into my cabin, the new routine and the realisation that I will be away at sea for the next four weeks. A bit daunting if you’re a first-timer like me, but everyone has gone out of their way to explain everything and make us welcome.

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Today, we have finally arrived on site, which meant it was time to deploy several exciting instruments. This might sound fairly straightforward but in reality it can be quite daunting to watch thousands of pounds worth of equipment being dropped over the side of the ship and the scientists rely on the experience and finesse of the technicians and the crew…

On Monday, eight of us made our way from Aberdeen, Bristol, and Southampton to Cork, Ireland, in order to join the second leg of JC062. When we arrived at the port on Tuesday morning, the James Cook already awaited us eager to head back out to sea.

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Engineers at the University of Southampton have designed and flown the world’s first ‘printed’ aircraft, which could revolutionise the economics of aircraft design.

University and Natural Environment Research Council researchers and engineers at National Oceanography Centre, Southampton have been at the forefront of autonomous vehicle development…

On Sunday morning we continued megacoring and recovered many samples. As soon as the cores were recovered on deck, the team got to work on their analysis.

Kate Larkin writes for the blog

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Today we deployed the US Naval Electronic Lab (USNEL) Box Corer which collects large samples of sediment from the seabed. The corer is lowered by wire into the sea and its design allows a free flow of water through the frame, which helps with a speedy descent.

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Late last night the team deployed a CTD and as soon as it had been recovered several hours later, we set to work collecting and analysing the samples. We are looking at the composition of the phytoplankton that lives in surface waters and how they might be influenced by climate change.

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Just after 07:00 this morning we began recovery of the PAP 1 sensor array. This includes a Met Office ODAS (Ocean Data Acquisition System) buoy.

ODAS measures air pressure, air and sea temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, wave height and period and was coupled to a mooring wire fitted with marine sensors before being deployed at the PAP…

This morning the technical team used an acoustic release system to free the sediment traps that were deployed at the PAP site from the research vessel Celtic Explorer in September 2010. Principal Scientist Henry Ruhl and Marine Technician Corinne Pebody watched from the bridge until the PAP 3 buoys, on the traps, were spotted.

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