SENCKENBERG
world of biodiversity

At 07:15 the exhibition filled with scientific crew for breakfast, afterwards most were already back on board to distribute boxes, begin to assemble the gear and continue to set up the labs. At 9 o’clock the Meteor could then leave the harbour and we enjoyed the first sailing-wind. The port of Reykjavik appeared smaller and smaller.

At 10:20 we were generally aware of useful information about the meteor, especially on the security provisions. Of course a safety drill with the alarm for abandoning the ship was required.

So everybody came with life jackets and warm clothing to the staging area on deck. After this important briefing the gear could be finished and secured. The gear will be deployed in standardized order: CTD (Condictivity Temparature Depth) for measuring various parameters such as temperature or salinity of the water, the MUC (corer) and the GKG (box corer) for sediment samples, the EBS (epibenthic sledge), the AGT (Agassiz trawl) and the plankton net. The last three are each towing devices that are pulled behind or beside the ship.

Following the plan the next gear should be driven the next day at 12:30, at one of the deepest station - which is about 2700 meters - during the whole expedition. With 11 to 12 knots, the Meteor moves to the first sample area, everybody is waiting anxiously for the first active operating day.

Valeska Borges, Senckenberg am Meer-DZMB