Category: Science

If you just want the science content, then this is the category for you. Mostly research-related posts.

Guest Post – Louise Cornwall

On By ClaireIn Discovery DY098, Guest post, ScienceLeave a comment

Plankton are critical components of the marine ecosystem. There are two groups of plankton, the “phyto” (plant) and “zoo” (animal)-plankton. Both phyto- and zooplankton transfer energy through the food web to larger animals, such as penguins, seals, dolphins and whales. This means it is important we understand how marine plankton respond to future climate change scenarios, as this could have major impact on the whole marine ecosystem. My work concentrates on two components of climate change. The first is the rapid increase in ocean temperature. The second is a process called Ocean Acidification. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are causing the ocean to become more acidic. These two components, both separately or combined, are proven to be harmful to various marine life.

I study a certain type of zooplanktonic animal called a copepod. Copepods are very small crustaceans, generally less than 2 mm in length. They are the most abundant type of zooplankton in the world’s oceans. My aim is to increase our knowledge of how these tiny, but very important, animals cope under climate change.

o. similis copepodite 4_1

Copepod seen through a microscope… not easy when the floor, desk and everything else are moving in a rough sea!

During the Discovery cruise, I am collecting copepods from plankton net hauls. Once caught, they are stored for at least 12 hours in order to acclimatise. I then exposed them  to different environmental conditions:

  • “normal” – seawater matches natural environment.
  • “high temperature” – seawater temperature is increased.
  • “acidification” – seawater acidity is increased.
  • “high temperature + acidification” – both seawater temperature and acidity are increased.

How copepods, and plankton as a whole, respond to climate change will impact entire marine ecosystems. A better understanding of these responses will increase our ability to predict the future of our oceans.

Louise Cornwall is a Phd Student at Plymouth Marine Laboratory. For more information on her work, email loco@pml.ac.uk

A voyage of (RRS) Discovery

On By ClaireIn Discovery DY098, ScienceLeave a comment

Krill and whale counting in the Southern Ocean

This winter (or summer at this end of the world), the RRS Discovery sets off from the Falkland Islands to conduct a 6-week research cruise in the waters around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

There are multiple aims for this research cruise. Firstly, this will be the 2018-19 contribution to a 20 year data-set that British Antarctic Survey has been collecting on the abundance of krill in the waters around South Georgia, in an area known as the Western Core Box.

Secondly, we will be extending the survey out to the waters around the South Sandwich Islands. This work is being done in collaboration with scientists from the UK, the US, Norway, China, Germany, Ukraine and Japan to provide an update to the baseline data collected in 2000 – data on the abundance and distribution of krill.

Thirdly, the 2000 krill survey also gathered data on the distribution of cetaceans – whales and dolphins – in the same area, at the same time as the krill surveys were taking place. The 2019 survey will do the same. This is where I come in – I’m one of a team of four whale researchers on the Discovery, and the other survey vessels will also have scientists collecting whale data.

The ship has a wide range of scientists on board. As well as these three core aims, we’ll be collecting data for a wide variety of different research projects. Over the next few weeks, we’ll give you a blog update from as many of the different scientists as we can – stand by to find out more about some really fascinating projects!

Claire Lacey is a marine mammal researcher at the Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews.