The Benguela System under climate change - Effects of Variability in physical forcing on carbon and oxygen budgets

12.01.2022 – We are setting out to sea

Yay, the time has come! We leave the harbour of Walvis Bay around 9:30 am and glide through the water towards the west, accompanied by sea birds and curious Cape lions. An extensive programme lies ahead of us, about which we would like to tell you more in the coming days. After a good three-hour journey, we finally reached our first station and the sampling programme began. For this, among other things, the CTD was lowered into the water with connected buckets so that we could take water samples at different depths. As the name suggests, the CTD measures conductivity, temperature and depth, as well as various other parameters. These values give a first impression of the water properties at different depths. With the water from the water samplers of this first CTD, we checked our instruments for their readiness for use. After overcoming some initial methodological hurdles, we headed to the station furthest from the coast on this first survey transect at 23° south latitude, and from there we headed back in a straight line towards the coast.

 

Text: Fabian J., Braun P. (both IOW)