All aboard!

All aboard the Sarmiento De Gamboa! With 20 passport stamps, we set off from the port of Walvis Bay at 13:30 local time. With researchers from 7 different countries and 8 institutions, we aim to gain an improved understanding of the biological carbon pump and its processes. This will ultimately form part of an optimised approach to addressing climate change in alignment with the EU Green Deal.

The Sarmiento de Gamboa leaving the port of Walvis Bay, Namibia

Route of the OceanICU campaign with all the stations. Comment below if you think you know what the blue here represents...

The OceanICU expedition will take us out of Namibian EEZ, along the Western African coast, stopping 10 times for sampling, until eventually reaching the shores of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria one month later on the 17th of April.

In less than 2 days, we shall reach our first station, so for now, preparations are well and truly underway to hopefully minimise the initial chaos and get into a routine as soon as possible!

Sarmiento de Gamboa crew & scientist work together to prepare the snow catcher (particle collection device) and the CTD rosette.