What are the instruments scientists used for? It may be mysterious to most of people. Today, let’s get a short impression by going close into a field study of ocean acidification. KOSMOS It is a close system. KOSMOS is like a floating iceberg. Don’t be misled by its part above water. In fact, the […]
The core parameters – Filtration as a mission!
We (the girls from the filtration lab) are one team of several here at Espeland Marine Station near Bergen. We produce data that are the baseline for many other experiments conducted in this facility – oh dear! But what is filtration all about? Just imagine: we basically do the same everyone does in the morning […]
Top predators
In KOSMOS science meetings, information about the different levels of the food web are normally presented in succession from the smallest to the largest individuals. Last time, after we had talked about the pico-eucaryotes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, apendicularians and fish larvae, I was asked about the journalists. And I like thinking of them as top predators […]
Are herring kids afraid in the dark?
Looking in the egg-incubators since the day we put them into the mesocosms, you could see pairs of eyes staring back at you. Then suddenly it got less and less, fortunately not unexpected, since they were hatching just as calculated by the temperature they experienced over time. Signs for first hatching could already be seen […]
KOSMOS 2015 presentation at IMR
What’s going on at the Espeland Marine Biological Station? What are these orange constructions in the Raunefjord for? And why do we have to care about ocean acidification? In his Hjort Guest Lecture, Prof. Ulf Riebesell from GEOMAR gives a brief overview of the present state of knowledge about ocean acidification, highlights some deficits in […]
It’s all a matter of taste
Our station is full of high-tech equipment. And all of the machines have really fancy names. Just to mention some of them: There are the Accuri and Cytosense, two flow cytometers to count the smallest organisms in the ocean. Just next door you can find the QuAAtro, an autoanalyzer for nutrients, or the Airica, which […]
No matter the weather
A fresh northwesterly breeze blew away the rainclouds this morning and made today’s sampling a bit challenging. But everyone returned cheerfully and hungry enough for an early lunch…
Conquering the Fjord
Every second morning a bunch of brave explorers set out with their tiny little boats to an obscure direction for an unknown period of time. They become smaller and smaller and then finally disappear behind rocky islands with wild vegetation. After a few hours they come back and have been desperately awaited by the people […]
The Kitchen Challenge: Will it be enough?
In other posts on the blog it was written about research work at the project in Bergen, therefore I will rather tell more about the everyday life at marine biology station. One major aspect that has to be taken into account in such projects is eating and its organization. Does everyone cook for themselves (which […]
Back in the Fjord
“Back in the Fjord”: We discussed the title of our press release at length. Admittedly, we had come up with more appealing titles for previous experiments. But it fits. Oh, yes, it fits! The KOSMOS gang is back at the fjord, this time accompanied by a group of highly motivated students. And how happy everyone […]