Blogs from Oceans and Seas - page 101

3rdJuly It’s another beautiful morning here at 61oN 33oW, just off the coast of Greenland. The Arctic Circle is at 66oN, so we're not too far off. Since we set sail about 17 days ago, we’ve been warned that we're in the North Atlantic, so stormy, cold, wet weather is to be expected. In the past few days, however, we hear “this just isn’t right… It’s never this nice for so long in the North Atlantic”. In fact, we’ve been very lucky, and have had magnificent weather most days. There have been a few cold, windy and grey days, but even those weren’t too bad. We were supposed to encounter a storm on Sunday, but we travelled north and it stayed put, so we missed it. Instead, we had the most amazing day. The sky was ... read more

I must have been a nomad in one of my past lives. Over the last five years, I have moved locations and countries more than other people change socks, and I rarely grow tired of it. It’s like in the film ‘Chocolat’, when Juliette Binoche breaks up her tents every time the winds start blowing again. After a few months in one place, I become restless – and every time I get excited about what needs to be done. I love to dispose of things, plan seemingly impossible trips through the world’s oceans and terrains, and overcome the hurdles that stand in the way of me and the road. I even love all the confusion and uncertainty that come with cargo ship travel. It all invigorates me. This time, as we were getting ready to leave ... read more

Woke up to find the weather pretty ordinary on the balcony. Squally showers and only about 20 degrees. The seas were a bit choppy as well. Had another snooze and when I woke up again around 10.30 the sky was getting clearer, and by lunchtime it was now fine and sunny and back to usual 30 degrees. The sea was flat as a tack with just a small swell evident. Had cereal and fruit for breaky but spoilt by a bad coffee which just lingered. Lunch I had my first Cheeseburger & fries and a little potato salad, while Kerry had the healthier Tuna sandwich from the Deli. Only did the one Trivia session today which was sports based. Joined forces with a couple who could barely speak English but we managed to score 10 of ... read more

Day 12 It’s just over a week and a half since we left Ponta Delgada, and we are settling nicely into a routine. We are traveling back and forth from areas of suspected high biomass, to areas we think have been infected by viruses, sampling along the way to see if we can catch the interesting stuff. If you take a look at the route the Knorr has sailed in the past few days (http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8581) you'd probably think we have a problem with the navigation system, or that someone on board has a drinking problem. But no, all it is, is us trying to find 5 micron cells inside an ocean. But we are starting to see very promising initial results, so we're modifying our sampling and analyzing regime accordingly. Between sampling and experiments, ... read more

Weather - a shower in the morning but gradually disappeared to overcast day with occassional sunshine and around 30 degrees. We started the day by going to Trivia where we met a nice couple from Maine who talked about how much snow they get and how it effects the school times. We had lunch on Lido Deck and met a couple from Long Island who were originally from Guyana who were Cricket fans. Clive Lloyd the famous cricket hero comes from Guyana which is part of the West Indies even though it is actually on South American mainland. Next we went check out Luke’s basketball comp. They were playing 3 on 3 and he was sweating big time wearing his new John Wall shirt (Washington # 2). Elise was also there chatting with her friends. Later ... read more