Last sampling … It’s an old tradition in German oceanographic research that the last sampler brings up a very special sample. Well, in the case of KOSMOS-GC2 it was Tequilla Sunrise. Actually, it was rum instead of tequilla and the sunrise was kind of upside down. But Paul prepared an excellent mix and we […]
It may seem like the perfect sea to swimmers, snorklers, and divers – crystal clear, turquoise water with an underwater visibility of 30 metres and more. Among marine scientists this is often referred to as an ocean desert. The concentrations of plant nutrients in these waters are so low, that it takes special instruments and […]
Here we are again, KOSMOS Gran Canaria 2.0. Our second endeavour of conducting a long-term in situ mesocosm study in subtropical oligotrophic waters. And indeed, this time of the year the sea around the Canaries is truly oligotrophic: nutrient concentrations at the detection limit, low plankton biomass and an incredible underwater visibility. At the onset of […]
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 […]
Let’s simulate deep-water upwelling in our mesocosms. Easy to say – but how do you collect 80,000 litres of water from 400 m water depth off-shore and deliver it to the KOSMOS playground? Pumping it with a long hose lowered to depth into a huge bag on-board R/V POSEIDON and ship it to shore? Considering […]
For a moment we were relieved when the storm settled down and our nine mesocosms were still in place heads above surface. But we were anxiously waiting for the divers to carefully inspect our wave-battered mesocosms. Their reports and the underwater video footage they brought back were sobering. The scene below the surface was very […]
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 […]
Twenty-two railway wheels, in total about 9 tons of solid iron: These are the anchor weights, which will hopefully hold our mesocosms in place against all currents and waves for the next eleven weeks. Laying out these anchor weights precisely at the locations given to us by the local authorities and with even distances to […]
Anchor weights, KOSMOS frames and bags, buoys, generator, deep-water collector, samplers, sensor, ropes and shekels, iron chains, hoses, cleaning rings, pumps, carts, more ropes, more weights, blinking lights, boxes, boxes and more boxes. In total over 24 tons of equipment arrived in Las Palmas with Poseidon and needed to be unloaded. Along with it came […]