[deutsche Version unten] The experiment is already running for four weeks now and we still haven’t introduced all members of the project. Starting with the series “Who is KOSMOS” we take the chance to present each of the groups taking part in the study. As an alphabetic order seems rather boring, we will follow an […]
[Deutsche Version weiter unten] For science it is important to keep the error rate as low as possible, but it is understood that everyone makes mistakes. To have comparable results at the end of the KOSMOS experiment the same task should always be executed by the same person. That means: If for example plankton is […]
[deutsche Version unten] A normal sampling day starts at 7:30am just before the sun rises over Gran Canaria. The sampling team packs all equipment needed into the KOSMOS bus to transport it to the harbour just around the corner. The equipment comprises integrated water samplers for gas samples, pumps to sample non gas samples, a […]
Some days ago we started with the most fun part: cleaning the mesocosm bags from outside with a window scraper and a brush operated by a diver. It may sound strange since our experiment is inside the bags, but we don’t want to have algae growing on the outside and shading the inner environment. It […]
Every second day it´s sampling day (dx). So fare all activities were according to plan and the weather always pampered us with sun, only a little bit of clouds and 2 weeks of almost flat sea. A lot of people are busy either on the boat, in lab or even both if you´re having a […]
Es ist früher Nachmittag und wir beladen die eben gefüllten Tauchtanks auf das Shuttleboot. Der Fahrtwind und das Spritzwasser sind eine durchaus willkommene Erfrischung an einem heißen Tag wie diesem. Heute sind wir zu viert und mit dem Tauch-Equipment ist das Boot gut gefüllt. Nach 20 min Fahrt entlang der Küste und begleitet von fliegenden […]
[deutsche Version unten] Coming back to Gran Canaria after almost six months, I did not know what to expect and how it would feel. How will we be welcomed? Will the friends we made back in GC 1.0 even recognize us? But just a few days in, all worries were blown away. This time – […]
Introducing the dive team comes a bit late, but we have the best excuse, we were under water. If you look down from the boat into the water you already get an impression, how great the visibility is. Guess what it is even better to be inside. Of course we have to focus most of […]
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 […]