First two BGC floats
We deploy the first two biogeochemical Argo floats of the trip, and I try my hand at seawater sampling
I’m delighted to report that two new BGC Argo floats have been sent off on their watery adventures!
Our BGC floats are shipped in sturdy wooden crates. To deploy them, we lift them out of their boxes and carefully lower them on a rope over the side of the ship. All of our BGC floats on this trip have been adopted and named by school groups.
Welly in its box in the main lab before deployment; photo credit: Cora Hersh
The first BGC float, which we deployed on October 3 just as the sun was rising, was named Welly by students at Sydney Distance Education High School in Sydney, Australia. The name refers to
“… the work that an Argo float does – going to different depths and collecting data. Welly comes from the term upwellings, the mixing of different ocean salinity levels, from different depths of the sea.”
Welly begins its journey in the Pacific Ocean; photo credit: Mackenzie Smith
The second BGC float was named MarCatApS after Marian Catholic College Applied Science in Kenthurst, Australia. We deployed this float early on the morning of October 4. The header photo above shows AB Sophie and marine tech Liz preparing to deploy the MarCatApS float (photo credit: Cora Hersh).
The MarCatApS float in the main lab; photo credit: Cora Hersh
Both deployments went as smoothly as could be, leaving me to head back to the main lab to take some water samples that will validate the Argo float’s sensor measurements. The samples I’m processing on the ship will be used to measure dissolved inorganic carbon, pH, phytoplankton pigment signatures, particulate organic carbon, and nutrients. I’m more used to coding on my laptop than doing anything involving pipettes and glass bottles, but luckily the Argo team at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California sent along detailed instructions for me to follow. Another early morning/late night BGC float deployment is coming up soon!