research expeditions

Today has been a long consolidation day.

Late last night an amphipod trap was deployed, ant that will be recovered later this evening so I will get some pictures then maybe.

So far we have had remarkably benevolent weather and yesterday I caught the sun a little as I was on deck filming most of the day, so today I started by putting sun screen on! It has been needed too as I have spent a good deal of today on deck filming.

After the actual recovery of the mooring buoy and then the sensor frame, the long job of recovering the 4km of rope began and didn't finish until late in the evening. It was not until 22:30 that three PELAGRA buoys could be deployed on a trial mission.

Today has been full of events. The CTD this morning, and then the recovery of the PAP mooring.

We were all disappointed that the weather did not allow the recovery or the CTD to go ahead yesterday, but today the weather is definitely improving and the first CTD which will go to 4000m was put in the water just after 6am.

We had lifeboat drill yesterday afternoon, and as a newbie I paid particular attention. I made my way to the muster station through one of the water tight doors, as I would should some emergency require it.

Today is a day for final preparations and practice procedures while the PSO finalises the work plans to ensure the various groups of scientists and technicians will get the samples they need at the times they need them.

Our cruise to the PAP site has finally come to an end and after a successful couple of days at the Porcupine Seabight the James Cook steamed back to Falmouth. Although everyone was excited by the prospect of fresh fruit, crunchy vegetables, and yes, family and friends too, the joy of returning to “normality” is always accompanied by some sadness.

Ahoy, everyone! A couple of days ago, we finally left the Porcupine Abyssal Plain after a very successful sampling regime of megacoring, trawling, and the deployment of various other instruments over the past few weeks.

Ahoy, everyone! Today, you are in for a treat. As you know already, we are deploying a whole range of instruments to get an idea about what type of creatures live at about 4,800 metres depth here at the PAP site.