Search
Heading to the Mother Land — Sweden
After transiting through the Kiel Canal, the waterway that links the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, and welcoming Dr. Venter in a rainy Copenhagen, we embarked for Sweden, my home and one of the main destinations of our 2009 expedition. It was a proud and special moment for me when first mate, John, hoisted the Swedish courtesy flag. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperating and was putting a damper on the excitement. My friends and family in Stockholm tell me it has been the worst...
Sampling in Helgoland — A warm German welcome for the Sorcerer II
After a little more than two weeks in Plymouth, UK the Sorcerer II set sail on June 3rd. We were sad to say goodbye to our new friends at PLM, but we were grateful for their hospitality, friendship and scientific collaboration. We're looking forward to coming back through Plymouth in the fall. We motor sailed in calm weather but with all the other boat traffic in the English Channel we were on constant watch. On June 6th we arrived on Helgoland, an island about 70 kilometers from the...
First Sampling in Plymouth Reveals Interesting Blooms — BBC Cameras capture it all!
After a couple of days in Plymouth we were ready for the first of two intense sampling days together with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML). We had heard rumours about blooms of Phaeocystis, a conspicuous bloom-former in the North Sea and English Channel. When it blooms, it turns the water reddish-brown in color, and the degradation of the gelatinous colonies may result in foaming. It was another beautiful sunny morning in Plymouth when we left Sutton Harbour and headed for one of PML’s...
Days of Discovery: Plymouth, Sea Urchin Cell Division and More Plankton
After a few days of fairly rough weather and winds up to 50 knots we finally spotted land and made our way to Plymouth. With our social interactions having been restricted to a pod of pilot whales and a few tankers passing through the night, we were excited to see a welcoming committee, headed by Dr. Jack Gilbert and Dave Robins from Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), waiting on the dock in Sutton Harbour. We were also excited to meet up with our colleague from JCVI, Dr. Chris Dupont, who flew...
England, Here We Come!
In calm and clear conditions on May 11 Sorcerer II set sail for Plymouth, England. We enjoyed our brief stay in the Azores, but we were all excited to get to the U.K. and complete our North Atlantic crossing. As I mentioned in previous entries, we took samples near areas studied by the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries IMAR-University of the Azores (DOP/UAç). We sailed from Faial to the neighboring island of Pico to collect the first sample. On our second day out...
Bermuda: Back to Where We Started
Sorcerer II arrived in Bermuda around 7 p.m. on Saturday April 25th after a five day, 1,000 mile sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the crossing, the crew experienced some challenging weather to say the least. Two samples were collected, and the CTD data confirmed what the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) science team expected: this deep, yet nutrient-poor stretch of open water was very mixed and observed no chlorophyll maximum within 50 meters depth. We are spending three...
The Search for Environmental “Gems” Continues
As an original crew member of the Sorcerer II circumnavigation that began in 2003, I had not been sailing/sampling on the boat since September 2007. I arrived in Florida with a mixture of emotions. Although life on board can be tedious, I was excited to return and embark on this next leg of discovery. Dr. Venter has created an incredible team that functions well at sea. Despite the close quarters and monotonous periods that can overshadow the journey, there is an easy and familiar feeling among...