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Field Campaign 2018
Diplomatic hurdles
There was no shortage in challenges and hurdles during this campaign: Technical and logistical hurdles, loss of important equipment, challenges with w... [more]
Risks and side effects
A key objective of Ocean artUp is to assess the possible negative side effects of artificial upwelling. One potential risk is the stimulation of toxic... [more]
10 tons of sampling water collected
In total we sampled nearly 10,000 litres of water from the mesocosms over the course of this experiment – collected with our depth-integrating water (... [more]
A fish larva's life in the mesocosms
You may recall that we were really excited about the introduction of newly-hatched fish larvae into the mesocosms. With respect to artificial upwellin... [more]
The last sampler tradition
There is a tradition with KOSMOS studies. The filling of the last sampler makes the start of the end-of-the-experiment party. The filling though is no... [more]
Crossing the finish line
I imagine this is how it feels when crossing the finish line after running a marathon. Relieved, excited, exhausted. Those three words describe my pre... [more]
Detritus: dead, dirty, and dashing downwards?
Artificial upwelling – in our experiment, the partial exchange of nutrient-depleted water in the mesocosms by nutrient-enriched Atlantic deep water, m... [more]
Watch-lady
Normally I’m in the laboratory fractionating chlorophyll, but for today I changed tasks. It was early in the morning, as we started loading the van wi... [more]
Ding, dong … Tintinnids are here!
Among all the diverse organisms living in our mesocosms, I have to say that I’m most amazed by them, the tintinnids. These microscopic animals didn’t ... [more]
The secret queen
When you think you finally know how the plankton ticks and what’s going to happen next, there is another big surprise around the corner. We are so use... [more]
Preparing the plankton meal
Just like all human beings require nutrients for their growth, so do the phytoplankton in the surface sunlit ocean (marine microscopic plants). These ... [more]
Reminding us what it takes
I imagine a KOSMOS experiment is a bit like giving birth. When you’re in it, you think never again. When you carry the outcome in your arms, you’re co... [more]
Fish babies are nerve-racking
When you talk about artificial upwelling, you will sooner than later talk about fish production fueled by the nutrient-rich deep water. The critical b... [more]
Ballooning under the sea
No, it’s not a hot air balloon to ascend into the sky. Rather more like a cold water balloon diving upside down into the ocean. Except that its purpos... [more]
¡Kosmoparty time!
Here comes the Bergfest! We managed to get to the mountain’s top, that is halfway through the experiment. So it's prime time to celebrate the hump... [more]
Blue versus green ocean
The equivalent of desert on land is the blue ocean in the sea. We love its turquoise to deep blue colours, but for marine organisms it means life at t... [more]
Working where others go for holidays…
While this may sound like a bad idea for most people, for me it is one of the best things about this KOSMOS project. I’m not a fan of the cold and dar... [more]
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
While the initial failure of the experiment was of course a setback, team zooplankton/fish made good use of it! The halt in the experiment gave us the... [more]
Back in the game
It has been a week of intense repairs at the mesocosms by our divers. The leaks in the flotation pylons have been sealed, the water that leaked into t... [more]
The zooplankton lab
I have to admit: My interest in zooplankton was not particularly strong until I arrived to Gran Canaria for this campaign. Because of the specific obj... [more]
Meet the locals
Beware kooks, these locals are not friendly, but damn are they graceful! No, I’m not referring to the Gran Canarian wave riders, rather about the tiny... [more]
Grow from failing
This year’s campaign wants us to grow rapidly. Since starting our sea-going activities we have encountered a gruelling series of technical problems an... [more]
Still enchanted by the bulky guy
We arrived and I’ve had 2 days to settle down and get to know other fellows of the research team. And now comes the doomsday when I am gonna meet the ... [more]
Small eats smallest
When inorganic nutrients are pumped to the sunlit surface of the ocean, it will be taken up by microscopic plants called phytoplankton. Phytoplankton ... [more]
The feast is on
Imagine you’re in a desert, thirsty for water. There’s plenty of precious water just a stone’s throw away, you just can’t get at it. That’s what phyto... [more]
Where the hell is M9?
The ninth day of the experiment, T9, started with promising sunshine and blue skies. The biggest part of the sampling team hopped on to Plocan 1, a sp... [more]
Dizzy talk
It was nine thirty in the morning when we left on the boat Plocan 1 on the way to the mesocosms. The sun was shining high in the sky, the sea was calm... [more]
Salting the sea
Why would anyone salt the sea? Isn’t it salty enough? Well, that may be the case, but that’s not the point here. The point is that the two parameters ... [more]
Ready, steady, go!
Eighteen months of planning, organizing, ordering, designing, building, packing, shipping, unpacking, assembling, setting-up, more planning and organi... [more]
Ready to rock
Today the mesocosms were closed. The sediment traps were connected to the bottom of the mesocosm bags by our divers and the upper parts of the bags we... [more]
Bringing deep to surface
One of our last activities with RRS James Cook was the collection of nutrient-rich deep water. With its volume of 100 cubic meter the deep water colle... [more]
Ready, set ....
By now the whole mesocosm team has arrived on Grand Canary. The houses and apartments in the area around PLOCAN are occupied by a potpourri of highly ... [more]
Sea-born: the mesocosms at take-off
Today the British research vessel RRS James Cook deployed our 9 mesocosms in Gando Bay at the northeast coas... [more]
Ocean artUp running at full speed
With 18 months into the project, Ocean artUp is now running at full speed. Starting with a pilot study in 2017 focusing on the base of the food web, w... [more]
Field Campaign 2019
Leaving the bubble
Sometimes science definitely feels like a bubble. We are surrounded by colleagues that mirror, to a lesser or greater extent, our beliefs and worries ... [more]
Swimming in bottles instead of water
Collected from eight mesocosms, poured into to eight 4-liter-bottles, distributed into 96 tiny glass bottles... [more]
Wow, what an abysmal smell
There is no easier and more direct way of distinguishing the different treatments of our experiment than by ... [more]
Special mission: side-experiment!
It’s crazy how fast time flies! I can’t believe that today is t30 ... Less than one week and the experiment in Gran Canaria will be finished. But ... ... [more]
What do diatoms need to grow?
Diatoms need nutrients to grow. These are silicate, nitrate and phosphate for the most. They are usually limiting in the ocean and they become abundan... [more]
The top predator of the mesocosm
The ultimate goal of artificial upwelling is to grow fish for human consumption in a sustainable way by boosting ocean productivity through deep water... [more]
From knowledge to action
This week is the #week4climate all around the world. On Friday the 20th of September millions of people joined the protests around the globe and next ... [more]
A lot of food is Diatom mood!
Having the task of measuring the nutrients feels like a privilege. By mixing some chemicals (for some of which I still find it hard to pronounce the n... [more]
Zen in the art of filtration
I seriously wonder what the local people think, when this suspicious group of young men passes by on its daily walk to work. Two sharp dressed Nigeria... [more]
Artificial Upwelling Round III: Si*
Unbelievably, one year has passed from the last KOSMOS experiment and we are back in beautiful Gran Canaria for more! While last year we tested for di... [more]
An unexpected night time adventure
After all the struggles that we’ve had in the past the day has finally come – the day of the first deep water addition. When Jan asked me this morning... [more]
Upwelling step 1
How do you simulate artificial upwelling in a harbour less than 10 meters deep? Well, you collect the water off-shore and bring it back to town. That ... [more]
Getting the volume right
As we have seen from previous blog posts, this experiment doesn’t like to keep us on schedule. According to plan we were supposed to add the deep wate... [more]
Mesocosm filling
Filling the mesocosm enclosures sets the stage for everything to come. So you want to be sure that the filling is done as smoothly as possible, to min... [more]
First day sampling
The night before sampling you don’t leave the research station PLOCAN without having put your sampling equipment that is needed for the next day benea... [more]
Ready. Set. Go! Oh no!
My excitement for this field expedition to Gran Canaria is big. Positive excitement of course. But also a lot of respect. Field expeditions are always... [more]
Ready for round 3
Ocean artUp round number 3. We are ready to start the third large field campaign of our project on ocean artificial upwelling. This time the research ... [more]
