Search
Scientist Spotlight: Greg Wanger
Greg Wanger was 3.7 km below the Earth’s surface, trapped not only underground but also in a country distant from his native lands of Canada and Liechtenstein. He looked around him. It was very hot and smelled like rotten eggs. As many people do during their graduate careers, Greg pondered the questions: “What was I thinking when I agreed to this project? Does my advisor know what he’s doing? Am I claustrophobic, or just paranoid about being claustrophobic?” JCVI’s own science...
The last leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, the Swedish Archipelago and the Gulf of Bothnia Sampling Transect
The morning of June 25th we left Stockholm and followed the Volvo race boats into the Baltic to watch the start of the last leg of the race to St. Petersburg. Once again there were hundreds of boats on the water to watch the start of the race. As the race began we saw someone waving to Dr. Venter and Dr. Norrby from another boat. It turned out to be King Carl XVI Gustaf! (Note: our friends on PUMA achieved second place in the final standing of the race. Congratulations!) After we watched the...
In the News
We docked in the Volvo Ocean Race Village for a week. It was very exciting to be so close to all of the activities surrounding the race. Over the week Dr. Venter and Karolina and I were interviewed by many local and national TV, radio stations and newspapers. Here are some links to a few of the news stories: Story on Xconomy; Story on TV4play.se. Dr. Venter was also part of a half-day symposium moderated by his good friend Dr. Norrby and attended by the King of Sweden. After the lectures...
The Volvo Ocean Race
We arrived in Sandhamn at 10 p.m. on June 15th. It was perfect timing because the Volvo Ocean Race boats were arriving around 11 p.m. The Volvo Ocean Race, formally known as the Whitbread “Around the World Race,” began in Alicante on October 11th 2008 and ends in St. Petersburg on June 25th 2009. Sorcerer II was docked in a perfect location to watch the boats come into the finish line. I was not very familiar with the Volvo Ocean Race, but now I know these people are true sailors and...
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...