10 July 2024

Going on board

Written by Sjanne Schoone, Master student Earth Sciences, Earth and Climate, at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 

This day started with a lab tour at the molecular lab where you can see ‘CSI’-stuff in real life. Here, they work with DNA and RNA and they can use it for multiple things. It was really nice to see these futuristic labs. They even use robots for processing samples so it all stays super clean. Then, we went on from ‘CSI-NIOZ’ to the moment we had all been waiting for: ship time!

Early in the morning at 5:30am, the brand new NIOZ boat ‘Wim Wolff’ went off to a station in the Waddensea where it would stay for 13 hours. Within those hours, several groups went on the boat to do measurements. We went aboard on the Wim Wolff for four hours around 10:00am. During this period, we were allowed to walk around on the ship and look at the fancy cabins (there is even a gym aboard!). But of course, there was also some serious work to do. A so-called slurf was installed in the water to pump water up so we could store it in bottles. These samples will later be used for research on sediment in the Waddensea. A CTD (Conductivity Temperature Depth) was also brought down into the water. This device can measure the salinity, temperature and depth. Apart from the sampling, we also had to go upstairs to the bridge where we learned how to log the data. For example, every time the CTD went in, we would log it into the system to keep track of all the measurements we had done.

It was very nice to be on the boat and the weather was good so thankfully, no one got seasick. The crew on the boat also loved to answer all of our questions and it was cool to hear their experiences from previous cruises.

Boarding the RV Wim Wolff from the smaller RV Adriaan Coenen which was used for shuttling (photo credit: Sjanne Schoone).

9 July 2024

Second day of the MaMa course

Written by Paulien Koster, Master student Climate Physics at Utrecht University

On the second day of MaMa, the time was ripe for the start of the practical programme! With the lab tour we got a little taste (even literal!) of the work being done at NIOZ.

Going by the fine mechanical service showed us that the way of making instruments for observations in deep ocean is a science on its own. Creating an instrument that can exactly do what one researcher wants, takes a lot of knowledge and also creativity. It is for example extremely important to regulate the pressure within instruments that make observations in the deep ocean at 6 km depth and choose the right materials for these instruments as well. At the fine mechanical service there even was an ocean glider being rebuild for public showings. The gliders can go up and down through the water only by shifting a weight inside it.

Edwin Keijzer, instrument maker at the National Marine Facilities, explains to some students how the glider works (Photo credits: Paulien Koster).

The fact that the real-sized model was being built with such accuracy reminded me of the fascination some people have for stars and why people usually really like to visit astronomical observatories: usually you cannot look into the depths of the night skies, just as you cannot look into the depths of the ocean. With gliders and telescopes a part of the unknown is shown to the outer world. I really liked the fact that this model was being great for the purpose of science communication too.

Next to the fine mechanical services we visited the seaweed lab. In eleven tanks, green and brown sea weeds are grown and kept, and we were given insights in the life cycle of two of the weeds. We got answers to all of our questions, which were sometimes loads more scientific (by the marine biologists among us) than others:

One of the physicists: "Can you eat it?"
Answer: "Yes."
Reaction: * Several people trying out the seaweed *

The different backgrounds of everyone in the course make it even better to have these lab tours: everyone is enthusiastic, dares to ask questions and comes with a different approach.