Dear all,

now that all the boxes are packed, the labs are cleaned, the containers closed, and the mesocosms made fit for GC 2.0, I would like to express my gratitude to all who supported us during the past 11 weeks. It has been an incredible journey, with ups and downs, highs and lows (not just in CO2levels), but also with a wonderful manifestation of how flexible, creative and enthusiastic this great team is.

First and above my thanks go to the leaders and staff of PLOCAN. The support we received throughout our stay was beyond expectation, both in efficiency, professionality and friendliness. Joaquin and Octavio, thank you for all your support. A special thank you also to Tania for her hands-on support in all phases of our campaign, to Monica for dealing with local logistics, and to Javier and Xabier for making ends meet whenever needed. It was great fun to interact with you. Citing an eminent member of the PLOCAN team I believe that “… this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

As in every mesocosm campaign, nothing would go without the tireless work of the diving team. Thank you Jan, Jan, Matze, Matze, Micha and Jens and also thank you Mario. You all did a great job.

Thank you to Jorge and his team for helping us with the mesocosm moorings and showing us the craft of securing huge fish cages in rough seas.

Thank you also to everyone else who worked with us on site during the past 11 weeks. It was impressive to see how quickly the excitement for science returned after the loss of the mesocosms, how everyone tried to make the best of the situation and how much good science was developed on the spot. I can’t wait to see all the results coming out of this work.

Last but not least, a giant THANK YOU to the soul of the KOSMOS team, Andrea. You are doing an amazing job keeping the KOSMOS circus in operation and the spirit high. As another eminent colleague and collaborator in this campaign would say: Chapeau.

We came to Taliarte to do the one-and-only long-term mesocosm study in oligotrophic waters. Now it looks like this is just the beginning of … well you know. I am very much looking forward to coming back. See you all again in the fall.

THANK YOU to all,

Ulf