SiTrAc: ‘SIgnal TRacking to unveil Arctic Climate variability’, was a 32 day voyage on board RV Celtic Explorer aimed at studying the Arctic environment and Climate Change. The vessel set off from Killybegs on the 21st of July and headed northwards to as far as 78° north off the west coast of Svalbard, then continued to work southwards along the east and south coast of Greenland, before steaming due east back home to Galway.  Below, the chief scientist Dr Audrey Morley goes into more detail about the work.  Audrey with the long gravity cores "Arctic climate change has globa ..read more

 About our Survey Offshore wind turbines are examples of superb industrial design but often struggle to survive in the harsh offshore environment. Both the turbine structure above the waterline and the foundation structures are subject to different stresses such as intense dynamic loading due to exposure to waves, currents, and seabed scour. All these factors coupled with poor subsea visibility make operating in these conditions very challenging. The imperative for Operations & Maintenance (O&M) is being able to regularly inspect the subsea assets of an offshore structure reliably ..read more

Stephanie Kienast, PI, Muntsa Roca Marti, Postdoctoral Scientist,  Madeline Healey, PhD candidate, Dalhousie University 2nd June, 2022  We have been working hard over the last weeks and we are thrilled that the operations on board the RV Celtic Explorer are going so well. We deploy large volume pumps and sample water from Niskin bottles. Our objective is to enhance the understanding of the ocean's biological carbon pump, a set of processes that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and sequesters it into the deep ocean. The biological carbon pump effectively removes CO2 fr ..read more

  Becca Stevens-Green (PhD Candidate in Dr. Julie LaRoche’s Lab) 30th May, 2022 Getting on the RV Celtic Explorer research vessel, I felt like I was in another world. On the first few days at port, I was thankful that we were allowed to go for walks off the ship and explore one of the parks near the dock. Two days later, we were off to sea. I remember watching as we slipped away from Galway, Ireland and headed to the Labrador Sea and thinking “how did I end up here?” About a year ago, I was interviewing with potential graduate programs and barely knew what plankton were. I had rarely thou ..read more

Carolina Cisternas-Novoa, PostDoc at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and  Elisa Romanelli, PhD candidate at UC Santa Barbara, California, US 29th May, 2022 It is May and it is “marine” snowing in the Labrador Sea. Small particulate matter is currently aggregating and sinking to great depths. These aggregates looks exactly like snowflakes under water (Fig. 1). They form when phytoplankton cells decay and coagulate with other organic and inorganic particles. Depending on their size and density some particles may remain suspended or sink. Sinking marine snow is one of the ma ..read more

Britton Dempsey, a master's student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 28th May, 2022 A week before mobilization for this survey, it seemed unlikely that I would be allowed to board the RV Celtic Explorer to contribute to this exciting project. I was the designated alternate for this mission, a necessity given that a loss of personnel due to the current global situation would compromise the planned science that was bursting at the rivets. However, as I write this, it has been over three weeks since I have last seen land, and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to lear ..read more

 Niall McGinty – Research Assistant from the Finkel-Irwin lab, Dalhousie University. 27th May, 2022 It was a strange feeling arriving to the RV Celtic Explorer, after a 7 year gap since my last time on-board. I had gone on a number of cruises throughout my PhD collecting zooplankton samples along the Irish Shelf and the Rockall Bank. Not much has changed on-board since then, with a number of familiar faces still among the crew and the same welcoming environment I was ready for the next few weeks in the Labrador Sea. Zooplankton is again my focus as we explore the composition of the zoopla ..read more

Loay Jabre, PhD Candidate, Bertrand Lab, Dalhousie University 19th May, 2022 In what feels like eternity, the last two weeks at sea have been nothing short of eventful. We christened our expedition with a storm that rendered many of us useless for days, but after a few good tosses around the ship, we emerged at the first station to find bright blue skies and calm seas. We were eager to finally begin work, and to start filling empty filters and vials with samples! On this expedition, I am working closely with Rebecca Stevens-Green (PhD Candidate, LaRoche Lab) and Scott Pollara (PhD Candidate ..read more

 Dr. Brianna Stanley, Postdoctoral Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences 18th May, 2022  After a four year hiatus for COVID-19 and finishing my graduate degree, I was incredibly excited to go to sea this spring. Cruises are always a fun research experience, but I value my time at sea the most for the connections that are made between scientists at different institutions. The members of the science team on this cruise come from all over the world, including South Africa and Canada. This cruise has been a perfect opportunity to collaborate and make new friends.  For thi ..read more

 Blogpost by Madeline Healey - May 16th 2022 Early this year, I found out that I would be a part of the RV Celtic Explorer spring 2022 cruise to the Labrador Sea. This was incredibly exciting news to me, as it is my first experience working in the open ocean. I eagerly awaited for the day to finally come when we would step foot on the Celtic Explorer and set sail across the North Atlantic. Alas, I am writing today from the lounge on the vessel, fresh scones, coffee (and sea-sickness medication) by my side as we venture out to our sampling site.  I am a graduate student unde ..read more