Emiliania is still making fun of us!

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After an emotional beginning with loads of expectations to find a bloom our first stations were a disappointment. Emiliania was not there...well, only very few were there. We had to concentrate the water over 200 times to see 3 or 4 Emiliania cells under the microscope. The hypothesis is that we’ve arrived too late and the bloom had been already swipped away, probably due to viral infections. We might have been in the middle of what Vardi et al. 2009 coined as the ‘oceanic plaque’.

After a lot of discussions among all participants, Kay Bidle, the chief scientist, decided to head north towards a patch of high chlorophyll and particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), which is generally an indication of high coccolithophore abundance.
We are now at 46 degrees North – 28 degrees West. We have still 2 days of full power steaming to get there. Let see how it goes!

Probably, so far the best moments in the cruise...I have to confess, were spent in the mess deck. The cooks are Great and the food is just delicious. I would not call it home made food, but it is very very good. Let’s coin it the ‘boat-made food’! Everyday we have fish or meat for the main meals, freshly made bread and delicious fruit salads and muffins for breakfast. The good food keeps our moral high and fuels our passionate endevour to find a bloom.

By the way it is 5:30 pm...dinner time. I’ve got to go...

Miguel

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