Watch it! The TracEx-Team is going to sea!

On the 15-16th of July all teams loaded their equipment and containers onto the ship. In the photo: Leo Mahieu, our collaborator from Liverpool (UK), Jennifer Ivanoff, our collaborator from Canary Islands, Saumik Samanta, Johan Viljoen, Herman Boock, Ismael Kangueehi (Stellenbosch) and Bernhard Wenzel, our collaborator from Braunschweig (Germany).

Free access to our latest publication (until 22 December 2018)

Our team’s new paper shows that phytoplankton (“algae”) communities north and south of the Polar Front (located approximately at around 50 degrees South) respond differently to changes in light and availability of micronutrient iron. Those factors are important for the photosynthesis and thus growth of the algae, which eventually, is important for the food web…

Back at Waterfront (Cape Town)

We spent the morning packing and ended up with boxes everywhere.. In the afternoon, however, we made our long expected way through to the scenic Cape Town Waterfront. we actually saw more seals and whales in the harbour than during the whole two weeks cruise. We will be back tomorrow to offload all the boxes…

Winter Time low productivity

At c. 52degS c. 28deg E in what most likely is the Polar Frontal Zone and about a day away from the Polar Front. The photo shows a filter used to collect phytoplankton material, for pigment analysis, having ran c.30L of surface ocean water through it. Compared to summer time (Dec-Jan 2017) in the same…

Our day in the Pancake Ice

We encountered the ice in the early morning of the 4th of July. All passengers enjoyed the spectacle as the ship made its easy way through the pancake ice. The winds were very strong though and one had to hold on tightly. The SA Agulhas II has a comfortable observation deck on the 8th floor…

First CTD launch of Winter Cruise 2017

After a failed first CTD launch on Thursday due to rough seas, tensions were high among the team. All fingers were crossed for a successful CTD launch on Friday. The launch was scheduled for 18:00 and the team, along with some helping hands, assembled at 17:00 to prep the CTD and GoFlo bottles. The GoFlo…

  Ryan, Ian and Thato having a look at the CTD Tension Compensator, a massive shock absorber, used to maintain tension in the cable while the rosette with trace-clean GoFlo bottles is being lowered into a swell of 3 – 4m. It prevents slacking which would occur due to ship rolling or the ocean forces…

Strong tail winds pushed us fast…

We are heading South. Strong tail winds pushed us  fast yesterday and we were steaming with 14-15 knots. Unfortunately that also means wavy ocean and we had to cancel our first station. The sea is still rough today and several scientists are not feeling too well, while others enjoy the spectacular waves. Our team is…

SA Agulhas II leaving the Port of Cape Town in the early afternoon and giving its passengers a last view of the famous Table Mountain, flanked by Devil’s Peak in the east and Loin’s Head and Signal Hill in the west.