Update on papers published

Some of the papers published from the Aranda CFLUX cruises so far:

Bacterioplankton dynamics driven by interannual and spatial variation in diatom and dinoflagellate spring bloom communities in the Baltic Sea

Effects of different plankton communities and spring bloom phases on seston C:N:P:Si:chl a ratios in the Baltic Sea

Viability of pico- and nanophytoplankton in the Baltic Sea during spring

Primary production, carbon release, and respiration during spring bloom in the Baltic Sea

Microzooplankton, the missing link in Finnish plankton monitoring programs

The cruise report is now available from: http://www.syke.fi/download/noname/%7B86C061C0-1C16-4F0F-BCFA-7778513729E9%7D/121054

The chlorophyll a (Chl a) results are ready and they show that we hit the peak of the spring bloom in the Gulf of Finland. Further west and south, the Chl a concentration was lower, but there were still some locations with relatively high concentration of Chl a. 

In the sampling stations with lowest Chl a concentration, the community of phytoplankton was dominated by small species (passing through a 10µm filter). This is typical for the situation after the spring bloom with low concentration of inorganic nitrogen. 

Some figures from the cruise report:

Life at land

We have been back for a week now, very hectic. Some of the results have been obtained, a lot still to come. 

The EURONEWS feature was published today at: 

http://www.euronews.com/2016/04/25/improving-our-understanding-of-our-seas/

Some of the results from the flow through system along the way (thank you Riina:)

Work on board: CTD room

The CTD room is a main controlling room for the CTD operation (see post from yesterday) and quite busy during station times.

Close look to a Mysidacean

Yesterday we could observe from the benthos samples several individuals of the genus Myscis, a Crustacean from the class Malacostraca. Myscis especies are generally found in Boreal and Arctic regions, both in sea and fresh waters. 

The individual in the photos is a Myscis mixta mysidacean, which normally live during day time in deeper waters to avoid sunlight. When night darkens the skies they migrate to the superficial waters to graze. 

Photo from the mysdidacean

Janne taking a photo from the microscope camera.

Mussels for microlitter studies

 Photos: Pia Varmanen

Bivalves (Baltic clams and blue mussels) are effective filter feeders in the Baltic Sea. They filter small phytoplankton particles from the surrounding water but unfortunately also microplastic particles. This has been proved in experimental studies. To study if they also filter plastics in nature blue mussels were collected from the Åland Sea for further analysis in the lab.  

Work on board: getting the water profile

The CTD, measuring Conductivity (salinity), Temperature and Depth with the attached sampling rosette is the main method of obtaining water profiles of salinity, temperature and oxygen, and for getting water from different depths. Here is a typical sampling occasion.