Saturday 11 May 2013

South West Deeps West

On Tuesday 7th May we traded places on board the CEFAS Endeavour with April, Eleonora, and Gareth from JNCC who had just completed a 3 week survey. We left Swansea in the evening and headed out for the recommended Marine Conservation Zone (rMCZ) South West Deeps West – approximately 150 miles from shore.

We almost immediately hit some very rough weather, which made the journey uncomfortable for the members of staff on board. We had to make sure that everything was secured to a surface, but even so a beloved puffin mug was broken during a particularly large swell!

Since arriving at the rMCZ on Friday morning, we have been using the Hamon Grab to take samples of the seabed which can be analysed once back on shore. We have also been deploying the camera sledge to video the seabed – and hopefully capture some interesting features on film!

Despite the weather we have been making some good progress and by the end of the third shift have completed 33 stations – only 150 to go!

We are bracing ourselves for some more bad weather over Tuesday and Wednesday and hoping our sea legs have kicked in by then!
Map showing the South West Deeps West rMCZ in relation to land