The Final Countdown

So, our amazing expedition on board of the even more amazing R/V DANA is approaching its end, and I though that the all time classic Europe's "The Final Countdown" would be a great tune for our victorious arrival to the viking lands. Of course, the lyrics have been slightly changed to fit the cruise :)

We're sampling together
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back
To DANA, who can tell?
I guess it is the chief scientist to blame
We're leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown
The final countdown

Ohh

We're heading for Hirtshals and still we stand tall
'Cause maybe they've seen us and welcome us all, yeah
With so many sediment samples to go and cores to be frozen
(To be frozen)
I'm sure that we'll all miss the DANA so

It's the final countdown

It's the final countdown
We're sampling together
The final countdown
We'll all miss DANA so
It's the final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh, it's the final countdown
Yeah

Wanted- Dead or Alive, but preferably alive.

Now I want you guys to get excited about eels, especially the European Eel. They are strange creatures that swim all the way from the Sargasso Sea, where they are “born”, to Europe, from where their “parents” came from. And that without any guidance of directions or Google maps and yet they arrive in Europe.

So in the vast oceans between The Sargasso Sea and Denmark scientists have been looking for their favorite little animal and also in hope of finding a “pregnant eel mother” (fish with eggs), as these have never been found. Using a net (picture of enormous net below) and fishing by night (picture of bucket of unidentified slimy stuff) we have tried to catch it.

And this is where the students of this course have found themselves, in the middle of this search, from the Azores to Denmark. All have been excited to contribute in this search, even though it meant working at weird hours (just after sunset and just before sunrise). Just to see the fish-scientists lighting up in the sight of the small eel larvae (if you never seen a scientist excited, they look like kids on Christmas eve/morning getting just the present they were hoping for). Even an environmental engineer and a marine archaeologist can get excited about eels (picture below). 

On our search for The eel, we also found other funny animals. Below is a picture of a good friend of mine, one almost transparent and the other (looking very much the same), in a “house” covered by something that could be purple eggs.

Now I show no pictures of any of the eels, to see them you can visit the Eel expeditions Facebook page, as mentioned in the previous blog post. 

The Danish Eel Expedition

We are sharing our research time on R/V Dana with Mads Christoffersen and Suzanne Hansen who are the remaining members of the major Danish eel expedition across the North Atlantic. Follow their fascinating research on their Facebook page.

Mads and Suzanne looking for eels in plankton samples.

Destination Denmark

After being out in the open North Atlantic all week, we found our way to the shallow waters on the continental shelf and in to the English Channel. We have now completed our very successful sampling campaign and are heading straight for home! Follow us in the tab "Where is Dana now?"

Our route from the Azores, showing all sampling stations. 

Dolphins!!

… and “ohhhh”, “ahhh”, “there”, “look”, “fantastic”, … were the most common words yesterday evening. While we were waiting for the recovery of the box core a group of five common dolphins was swimming around the DANA. They were diving and jumping out of the water – just as you might know from TV documentaries.

 The common dolphin is easily identifiable by its light grey, yellow, or gold colored sides.

Later we saw even more of them further out together with a flock of birds. The experienced crew knows that birds and dolphins often appear together, indicating a rich food site. 

We suppose that our “meeting” in the vast expanses of the Atlantic ocean was a welcome change not only for us!

Written by Anna-Marie