Day 2 aboard the Weatherbird II

My experience aboard the Weatherbird II was awesome! I learned a ton about marine research techniques and I was fortunate enough not to get sea sick as we cut through the five foot swells of the Gulf of Mexico on our way to the first sampling station 20-30 miles out.

I was assigned to help with the neuston and bongo nets. We first dropped the neuston net, which is a net attached to a rectangular frame that tapers down to a collection cup. The neuston net skims the surface water for plankton that lives at the surface. After 20 minutes, it was time to bring in the neuston net. It was important to hose down the net in order to get all of the trapped plankton into the collection cup.

Next it was time to deploy the bongo nets. The bongo net has two rounded frames with nets attached similar to the neuston net and both nets taper down to collection cups. The difference with the bongo net is that an anchor is attached to the frame allowing plankton sampling at different depths. Like the neuston net, hosing down the bongo nets are important too.

What I found interesting was the difference in how the plankton looked from samples taken during the day at station one to samples taken at night at station two. Station one samples were more translucent and felt more slimy than samples at station two, which were darker and felt more gritty most likely due to a change in plankton composition from day to night and/or a change in location between stations.