… Or at least, we hope so. For the second time we are retrieving our moorings from Baker and Steffen fjords with great suspense (A year of mud). A year ago we deployed them for another year of data logging and sediment trapping and it is now time to see the job that they have…
This blog post aims at providing details on our first objective, which consists in the collection of river samples for the HYDROPROX project and related provenance studies. The plan is to collect water and sediment samples from seven rivers that ultimately flow in Baker Fjord (see map). Geochemical analysis of these samples back in Belgium…
The Southern Hemisphere is calling again. Two trains followed by two flights and one hour of camioneta brought us to the Austral summer, leaving behind a snow ‘storm’ approaching Europe (Fig. 1). Our team of four arrived in Coyhaique, the capital of the Aysén Region in Chile. This region holds some of the largest glaciers…
“Deep down within the Misty Mountains lived a creature named Gollum…”, a phrase which may sound familiar to many, starting the epic adventure of the Lord of the Rings saga, but not exclusively this one… In the late 70’s, the British marine geologist Neil Kenyon found this a most appropriate name for a submarine channel…
Today is the last day of our unfortunate early journey back to Zeebrugge. Just like on land, sundays on RV Belgica start with an extensive breakfast, including croissants and hot chocolate. Afterwards, being a sunny and almost windless day, the bridge deck is the place-to-be to hang out with a coffee and enjoy the healthy…
For two months we have been preparing the VLIZ ROV for this opportunity during the Gollum campaign on RV Belgica. She really needed to be in great shape. We were about to kiss the limits of her maximum depth rating. After 2 test dives we could clearly see that “Suzee” was eager for more. Obviously…
Today it’s my turn to write a daily report on this survey. My name is Wim Versteeg and, like Thomas and Robin, I am working for the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). Before starting at the VLIZ, I was working at Ghent University for 27 years as a geophysicist for acquisition and processing of high resolution…
Fred Durst put it nicely into words in the beginning of “rollin’”: “Keep on rollin’ baby, you know what time it is”. And gosh, did we know what time it was. Predictions warned us in advance that swell waves of up to 2 meters were going to hit us on Wednesday and Thursday. The result:…
Hi, I’m Bernard. I am the Commanding Officer of the research vessel A962 Belgica. Together with the other 15 crew members of the Belgian Navy, our job is to bring the scientific team where they have to work and provide them with all kind of support to execute their job in an efficient, secure and pleasant way. We have…
The Biology Conservation Unit (RBINS) has collected presence and abundance data on seabirds and marine mammals in the Southern Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and since recently in the Atlantic, the North Sea and the central Pacific Ocean. The aim of this long term program is to monitor marine top predators during transect on board research…
