MARSYS students onboard RV Meteor
What is the best way for students to learn to explore the sea? On board a research vessel! Students from the University of Bremen and the Hamburg MARSYS program joined the expedition on the research vessel Meteor. The cruise started in Las Palmas, Spain, in January and ended in Walvis Bay, Namibia.
To familiarise the students with current marine research methods, they were involved in all aspects of an ongoing project (AtlanTIC). They learned how data and samples are collected at sea and how the results are processed, analysed and interpreted. The students worked in small groups on physical oceanography, phytoplankton production and biodiversity, micro- and mesozooplankton biodiversity, macrozooplankton and mesopelagic fish, seabird and marine mammal observations. They produced reports, gave talks and produced videos of their work. These activities were accompanied by lectures and seminars given by the lecturers. In this way, the research vessel Meteor almost became a floating university.