Thursday 9 September 2021

2 years worth of fieldwork in 4 months. SAMS SCIENCE.

So, what's it been like in the science world after most staff were furloughed for months on end and all science stopped for almost a year...

What a look.

These photos are going to go in no particular order because there has not really been any structure to this hectic year. I can tell that I have been stressed and a bit under&overwhelmed with work because my blog posts have been so far and between!  


Wish my legs were up all the time! 
The first few weeks back at SAMS after furlough, I was all over the place trying to sort stuff out.





One of my most recent exploits was up around the West Coast of Scotland

A dynamic week sampling for Maerl around the west coast of Scotland, my best skippering job yet. Small roads, hard reversing, beach launches, busy ports, intense passage planning, exposed coasts, jumping dolphins, preying sea eagles and some happy scientists and the work truck only died on me on the day I was heading home!


We were buzzing around the highlands for Connie's PhD maerl project, "Maerl beds are coralline red algae an important ecosystem for fish stocks and a habitat for many species and as a source of blue carbon. Despite all known maerl beds being classified as 'Endangered' or 'Vulnerable' and being listed as UK BAP Priority Habitat by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the west coast of Scotland is a stronghold for maerl."

We were using a wee hand (lion manes jellyfish tentacles are the worst) grab to pick up twiglet or hedgehog maerl.

This is a flame shell! 


This is what it looks like on the sonar! 

Despite all known maerl beds being classified as 'Endangered' or 'Vulnerable' and being listed as UK BAP Priority Habitat by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the west coast of Scotland is a stronghold for maerl.


We need some money so we can buy some kit that won't break on us :D 


The maerl were from remote sites and then stored in RNAlater ready for genetics. 




This project aims to combine the use of genetics, physiology and modelling to improve the knowledge base for maerl beds with the ultimate aim of informing maerl bed conservation strategies. Super interesting science!


My most fun boat launch yet! Elgol is beautiful. It gets extremely stormy here in the winter! 




ASV is the new thing in marine robotics. ASV means Automated surface vehicle. 








Always need a good checklist! 


I had a fun trip up near my house in Ballachulish to Loch Leven. 
I commuted from SAMS because the weather was due to be very bad in the morning and it would have been too low vis and wavy to transit safely. 

Classic British Scientist right here.
The grid is so that we can get a good scale.


ROV and Marigolds of course.

Using the ROV to capture photos to do photogrammetry on the mussel farm.



This was a fun project into Autonaut! 
We are towed Autonaut out the
to launch it on a super exciting collaborative mission with #seiche! Follow the USV here marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details

This project is impressively collaborative with data being collected across the Atlantic as part of the Ellet Line and mooring sites, acoustics

#ifado ifado.eu are a big player with this project too!

It has an ADCP, CTD, PAM (hydrophone), and a weather station! So much data is being collected and some of it is even coming back live!

Love the new radar that I ordered for Seol Mara!



Learn more about here! "AutoNaut USV is a wave propelled Uncrewed Surface Vessel. AutoNaut USV which can be deployed offshore for multiple months, collecting data"



Check it out here!


I have done so many CTDs with biogeochemistry samples this year! Search my other blogs to see what a CTD is. 


We have some fun Ecosubs to play with this year! We had remote training via teams which was great.


NEXUSS grand challenge took place from SAMS and it was my first time teaching!

The mission (which the students didn't know until the end) was to find this "target" which was a light deployed by the divers at Tritonia at 28m.

Students depicting the morse code at the end of the week.

I was responsible for the yaks. They are on the surface and collect weather data.

Always needs to find time for a cuppa in the sun with a good view. 


So much good weather recently. 
My first time in the SAMS classroom.

This is what they found! Some light signatures on the bottom!

A super fun Saturday at work filming with and the team from for TV Show Great British Railway Journeys! Showing off the awesome science we get up to & also talked about my winter at Rothera .
I borrowed a toy train from my neighbour (obviously) so that Michael could use it in the SAMS test tank to look for the train.

Goes live next summer (22). Will share the link then.



I have smiled alot this summer. There have been lots of peaks and troughs.

Here is a write up from SAMS about an awesome day at work where a jet flew over us at 100ft. We had the ASV Kayak whilst a jet flow over. This was to capture the sea to air interactions.

"The 32-metre jet, managed by FAAM Airborne Laboratory, flew tracks over the loch to test the some of the aircraft’s four tonnes of instrumentation, while SAMS scientists below tested a prototype autonomous kayak that can take measurements at the water surface.

As the FAAM Airborne Laboratory aircraft took large-scale atmospheric measurements from the air, the SAMS prototype, known as the ImpYak, took detailed readings between the ocean surface and 50 centimetres above it.

It is hoped the respective readings from the flight on July 9 will help scientists better understand how heat and trace gases such as carbon dioxide are transferred between the air and the sea.

SAMS scientist Dr Phil Anderson explained: “We know that there is a transfer of carbon dioxide and heat between the air and the sea, but we don’t know exactly how much. We are hoping this unique combination of fieldwork measurements will address some important questions about the process.

“The aircraft took readings as low as 100 feet above the ocean surface but we also wanted to know what is happening just above the water line.

“In atmospheric terms, the membrane between the sea and the air is less than one millimetre thick – like a layer of clingfilm over the surface of the water - so it is difficult to study from a ship, which disrupts any measurements because of its size. The ImpYak will have less of an effect on this membrane and will give us useful data such as wind speed, temperature and humidity.

SAMS uses computer models of the atmosphere and ocean to help understand and predict the ocean, both for climate studies and to help the local aquaculture industry. These data from FAAM Airborne Laboratory in the air and the ImpYak at the surface will give an insight into where and when these models are less able to capture the reality of the environment. 

During the four-and-a-half hour flight the FAAM Airborne Laboratory tested a new temperature sensor and a new greenhouse gas analyser.

FAAM mission scientist Dr Hannah Price said: “Flying over the loch at a range of altitudes, from 100 to 10,000 feet enabled us to collect data to improve our temperature sensors. It’s really challenging to make accurate temperature measurements when you’re flying along at 200 mph, and test flights like this one are really important for characterising our sensors. Flying at low level over the loch also allowed us to try out a new way of measuring fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane. Having the micro-meteorology measured on the loch surface by the SAMS team will give us really useful information when we come to analyse the data.”

The FAAM Airborne Laboratory is owned by the Natural Environment Research Council and managed through the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. The BAe146 aircraft has capability to measure a range of atmospheric processes, including cloud particles, greenhouse and pollutant gases, wind and turbulence."

Phil is also from BAS!


Joe Marlow also exbas trying to remove seaweed off a buoy so that he can ROV it to see what lives on the buoy and create a photogrammetry image of it. He wrote a great article here about diving in the winter at BAS!

Phil Kerrison left SAMS but before he did, he did one last sampling effort on his pride and joy at the seaweed farm! 

I skippered and helped do various carbon measurements. 

Always happy when I am on my fav boat Uisge, especially when surrounded by the mountains of home. 





So much kelp on the NLB buoys! 




One massive project that I have been involved with for over two years is trying to track sea lice larvae on a project called SPILLS

A summary from the goverment is here.

"The project will use lice dispersal models to predict the larval lice burden in coastal waters in the study areas, with a specific focus on areas adjacent to river mouths with wild salmonid populations. Three existing lice dispersal models (already utilized in Scotland by the project partners) will be validated in two different areas, using historic sentinel cage and plankton tow data and new plankton data, respectively, to ascertain whether they accurately reflect lice populations in the environment. Both the sea lice dispersal models and the hydrodynamic models used to force them will be validated.  Cross-validation of the same models in the two study areas will increase confidence in their general use and application elsewhere.  Predictions of lice abundances adjacent to river mouths will also be calibrated against counts of lice on wild fish caught through net sampling in one of the study areas (Sound of Shuna).

Modelled sea lice distributions provide predictions for sea lice presence and will be used to inform field sampling for sea lice. On-farm, in-water, and wild fish lice counts will be monitored to provide data on spatial and temporal patterns of sea lice abundance coupled to the farming stocking, growth, and harvesting cycle. The project involves collaboration between farm operators, a number of local fisheries trusts and organizations, and two scientific institutes. This will enable a better understanding of how the (verified) output from the models reflects the interaction between wild and farmed fish. The work described above builds on a considerable record of scientific research on sea lice carried out by SAMS and MSS, which will be brought into the project.  "

As seen on the government website: 

The scientific study will comprise the following elements:  

1. The development of sea lice connectivity modelling for the Sound of Shuna

It is proposed to test and validate three separate models within this project to better understand how model selection, design and operation affect the predictive accuracy and utility of models as a tool for the development of Environmental Management Plans.

 

spills_workpackage1_example.png

Example of the type of map we expect work package 1 to produce
Example of the type of map we expect work package 1 to produce.

 2. Development of a monitoring strategy for infective planktonic sea lice stages

In order to provide further data for model validation, a range of sampling strategies that integrate lice abundances over both temporal and spatial scales will be deployed to complement existing field data.   

Nuber 2 is where we come in!




Plankton nets taken uisng a 15 m pump at the surface and 15 m from Seol Mara and then some towed samples using Uisge.




Best office so far this summer! 

We were here to do a repeat of the science we did last August for Euan's PhD project. This year everything went very smoothly on the science side.


If you're ever in Plockton definitely visit On the Croft....incredible tempura fish and chips,

Sunset



We were here to research Flame Shell beds in Loch Carron.

"These are most commonly found on mixed muddy gravel and sand in tide-swept narrows in sea lochs. They are formed by the intertwining of the byssus threads of Limaria with seaweed, maerl, shells and stones creating a unique habitat that consolidates the underlying sediments providing a surface to which other animals and plants can attach.


Like anenomes in a shell....NatureScot don;t agree

They are scarce in the UK: the majority of records are from west Scotland and are considered of national importance. The most extensive beds are in Loch Sunart and Loch Fyne. Large beds once found in the Firth of Clyde have declined considerably."



Most relaxed student on the outside, but probably not on the inside..


Clive's favourite pose









If you have made it to here, congratualtions. You might feel how my marine clothes feel at the end of a long summer...! haha

Sazout.