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October 27, 2016

Oceana Sea Patron

BY: Marta Fernández

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The campaign is drawing to a close and we must decide which shall be the final samples of the campaign, a dredge in the canyon of Saint George and a sampling with CTD, and two further CTD to complete the information on the canyon of Jounieh. The CTD enables us to obtain salinity data, pH, temperature and other physical parameters about the column of water at several depths… interesting information.  In total we have conducted 13 CTD dives, 52 dives filming the depths with the ROV and 12 dredges.

We spent the afternoon processing data, reviewing samples, copying information, packing boxes and material… and the crewmembers were popping in to office container asking us, “Have you finished yet?”

Since we docked in port, the jovial atmosphere could be felt on board… contentment about the job well done, teamwork which made the campaign possible. It was a pleasure for me to form part of the scientific team and to experience cooperation in a research environment, the daily sampling work and the learning acquired about species in the deep marine bed. I am grateful to my colleagues and in particular to professor Ghazi Bitar for his help and knowledge and pleasant company.

We had to stop work due to the scents wafting towards us from the hot barbecue coals… Celebrating like this, sharing chats, group photos and chocolate cake with “Oceana * Sea Patron” written in white chocolate on top is a superb ending to this expedition in Lebanese waters.