Precisely as forecasted the wind started to freshen up late afternoon yesterday. Luckily it came straight from the north, which at our mesocosm site allowed for some protection from the hefty wind sea. Not so the swell, which bended round into Melenara Bay. When the sun set, the waves reached up to 3 meters in height. Soon after dusk all we could see were the mesocosms’ flashing lights dancing in the dark.

The first daylight today offered a frightening sight: heavy seas playing yo-yo with our mesocosms. By now wave heights passed four meters, making our mesocosms bouncing up and down and bowing forward and backward. At noontime the wind changed direction for a couple of hours, turning slightly towards the east, which now exposed our mesocosms to stronger wind sea. It was early afternoon when we first noticed that the bag in mesocosm number 8 started to behave strangely when hit by the waves. Soon after it became obvious that it was ripped close to the water line. It was painful watching this and not being able to do anything. At this stage I feared the worst.

For late afternoon the wind was predicted to slow down a bit. It was already getting dark when the sea showed first signs of calming down. What a relieve! It’s too early to say whether we will be able to continue our experiment. As soon as the waves settle down our divers will carefully inspect the mesocosms. For the time being I am happy they are still in their place, heads above the water surface.