Chlorophyll is Key to the Biological Oceanographer

This week Pete and I started doing our experiments with water collected from the CTD profiles. We are using the water to conduct chlorophyll measurements, particular organic matter contents, nutrient samples and incubation experiments. All the data that will be collected from our water samples

Staying Focused and Organized

The chlorophyll samples that have been taken will all be processed on board using a fluorometer, whereas the other samples require a mass spectrometer which will be sort out at IMAS

The Fluorescent Ocean

Fluorometry is a very useful tool for biologists interested in phytoplankton. Chlorophyll, the molecule inside the plankton that absorbs light for photosynthesis, will give off light at a distinct wavelength (fluoresce) once it absorbs a photon of light. When chlorophyll is extracted from the phytoplankton using alcohol, a standard fluorometer quantifies this fluoresced light, thus giving a good approximation of the amount of phytoplankton that was in the sample. The flow-through fluorometer provides an even better measurement of phytoplankton biomass because it measures the absorbed light energy that is actually is transferred into the photosynthetic machinery of the cell (a process called electron transport) and gives an estimation of how well the intact phytoplankton cells are photosynthesizing in the ambient surface water. We will be using this data along with the data gathered from the standard fluorometer to determine if the internal tide has an effect on the phytoplankton biomass. As discussed in a previous blog

Work and Play

Mornings on the ship are usually dedicated to science. However, the afternoon usually involves social based activities. For instance, the ship has over 200 movies to watch not including the movies that people bought on their hard drives, or even the odd board game like Cranium or Settlers of Catan. I was also able to help some of the crew members change bike tires. Needless to say, there always something to do or someone to speak to on the ship no matter what time of the day it is!