Ship's log METEOR 165 (GPF 18-1_81)

After two weeks of "home quarantine" we have now arrived at the Ostfriesenhof in Leer where we will not leave our room for the next four days. We, that are 15 students, PhD students, postdocs, technicians and PI's from the MARUM-University Bremen, AWI-Bremerhaven and the University Oldenburg. All of us will be tested on Corona tomorrow to make sure that we do not carry the virus in our luggage on board the RV. Meteor.

Text and pictures by Karin Zonneveld.

Once unpacked and installed in the laboratories, all equipment like computers, microscopes and analytical equipment has to be secured with lash belts to the ship to prevent it from topping over, falling down or moving. Small items such as laptops are place on anti-slipping foul to prevent it sliding tables in case of rough weather.

Today we crossed the English Channel with beautiful weather, blue sea, blue sky and the white cliffs of Dover and say goody to the North Sea. For the next days we will be hiding steadily south crossing the Gulf of Biscaya, the North Atlantic Ocean off Spain, passing the Canary Islands to reach the “upwelling region” off Cape Blanc.

Text and pictures by Karin Zonneveld.

After a slow journey through the English Channel we have now entered the open Atlantic Ocean. Here, the water is more than four thousand meters deep instead of barely scratching a hundred. There is nothing between us and North America to break the wind or the waves.

You can see and feel the difference – no more wind parks in the distance, barely any other ships, the whole ship is swinging left and right, forward and backward, and during meals the mess is a little emptier than on previous days. During the first days, everyone was planning, studying, preparing and sometimes even playing Ping Pong in the evening hours, but now the science crew is taking it a little slower. For the ship crew, it’s just business as usual.

Text and pictures by Elinor Tessin

Since the weather calmed down on Thursday, we have been spending more and more time on deck, and as it turns out, the ocean is just teeming with life out here. We spotted our first dolphin in the deep blue Bay of Biscay, and now we keep seeing them all over the place. Most of them turn out to be a mixture of waves and our overactive imagination, but we also saw two whales, or at least the spray they discharge while breathing at the surface. I took some pictures, but won’t bother sending them to Germany because you can easily imagine them for yourself: a lot of blue, and then a tiny blur of white somewhere off in the distance.

The sensor sends continuously measurements back to the ship during where they are being analyzed. After about an hour, the processed information is sent out internationally. The results are especially important for aviation.

A few moments later it has already risen hundreds of meters.

Text and videos by Elinor Ticino, photos by Karin Zonneveld.

We're here,

Yesterday at half past one local time we finally arrived at our destination; station GeoB 24101. Since 1988, the MARUM collects particles that sink down through the water column on this location.

How? We collect these particles with sediment traps.

On this position the sediment traps consist of two big funnels which are attached to a wire above each other. Below the funnels collecting beakers connected, that have been programmed to be replaced every two weeks. These beakers have collected material from November 2018 to March 2020. Actually, they should have been replaced already in March this year, but unfortunately Corona came in between… :-) but as explained already some days ago, were are very lucky that we get the opportunity to be here with the RV Meteor.

The wire to which the funnels are attached is attached to an anchor which is located on the sea floor at a depth of almost 4200 meters. The wire is held in a horizontal position by floats attached to the other end. Between the wire and the anchor there is a so-called "releaser"; a fixture that loosens when targeted at a certain sound frequency.

Text and pictures by Karin Zonneveld.

This patch of ocean is particularly full of life because it is constantly restocked with nutrients: as currents push water away from the coast, deep water flows upwards. This is called upwelling. The nutrients in that deep water in combination with sunlight make an ideal habitat for microalgae.

This is where the microscopic feeding frenzy begins. Microalgae growth explodes, other microorganisms feed on them, and provide food for larger creatures in turn. Dead and dormant cells, zooplankton excrements, and all kinds of other debris sink down from these communities towards the bottom of the sea.

We find many different kinds of lifeforms and particles in the traps. To study microalgae, we filter our samples to keep only particles between 20 and 100 micrometers in size. Usually, you can’t see those without a microscope, but the color of the water gives them away. Before filtering, the water is greenish, and afterwards, almost entirely clear.

The upwelling cell that we chose eventually turned towards the coast, so we picked a new spot to release our trap this morning. Upwelling cells are easily visible in satellite images that depict the temperature of the ocean surface: wherever the ocean is cooler than its surroundings, upwelling is in progress.

Text by Elinor Tessin. If not stated otherwise, photos by Elinor Tessin.

Night work: Particles from 4000m waterdepth and dolphins

In the twilight of this early morning the twinkling lights on the Island Madeira greeted us at the horizon. We are on our way home but it will take another 9 days before we will enter the port in Emden. The last days of “station work” as we call the sampling period in the research area, were very intensive and, as is usual on a marine expedition, we worked during the days and nights min different shifts.

During the day equipment is used that needs daylight to deploy. For instance because the equipment is heavy and needs special stabilisation with wires on the moving ship or has to be spotted between the waves on the blue ocean surface such as the drifting traps and moorings. During the night lighter equipment can be deployed such as for instance the CTD/Rosette and In-situ pumps.

During the night deployments, large beams of light from the ship are directed to the place where the CTD/Rosette and In-situ pumps are being deployed. This provides a beautiful tranquil and fascinating atmosphere. The light on the water gives it a turquoise blue colour. The lights attracts all sorts of plankton which in turn attracts small fish that in turn attract calamares.

Our very last station was very special. Hundreds of Calameres came to the surface to catch the flying fish that jumped out of the water to spread their fins that enable them to “fly” sometime 10ths of meters before they fall into the ocean again. After a while, suddenly a hammerhead shark appeared followed somewhat later by more than 50 dolfins. The dolphins treated us with a real show. They collectively hunted in rows of about 10 animals next to each other. They jumped out of the water and dived synchronously. When they reached the other side of the ships lightbeam, they reorganised and synchronously started the next attack on the numerous calemares that had gathered near the ship.

Text by Karin Zonneveld. If not stated otherwise, photos by Karin Zonneveld.

Almost at home,

Today we sail through the English Channel, together with numerous other ships that nicely sail behind each other on the “ship’s highway”. Here separate sailing lanes divide the traffic that enters and leaves the English channel. Although the name says “Englisch Channel”, the ships do not follow the English characteristic driving direction but follow that from the “continent” on the  right side of the lane.

Our long transit home almost comes to an end and we expect to enter Port on Sunday morning. After the intensive sampling period last week there was not much time to relax. The transit time was intensively used to perform experiments and analyse our the freshly sampled samples.

For instance, we investigate if and how the small particles that are being formed in the upper water column clump together and form so called aggregates.  Furthermore it is investigated how the biological, physical and chemical interaction between aggregates and dissolved organic substances in the water functions as well as how old the aggregates are that we have collected direct out of different water masses.

For me personally I severely hope that we will find some microplastic types that can be degraded on a natural way by microorganisms that live in the ocean floor sediments. If we find this that would be fantastic as it than might open a way to replace the many not degradable plastic types with these materials. This in turn could than reduce the world-wide pollution. But... we first have to analyze our sampled material in the coming months to see if my dreams come true...

Today we will finish our last experiments and analyses on board of the METEOR to be continued in our home laboratories. We will store our equipment safely in transport boxes where they will be brought back to the institutes on Monday when we embark the ship.

We are very glad that we have become the opportunity to sail with this great research ship so far south to continue our research. My severe thanks to everybody that have made this possible.

Text and pictures by Karin Zonneveld.