Falmouth Group 13 - 2017

Winnie the Pooh

Bill Conway

Collection


Water samples

Water samples were taken at 4 stations using a Niskin bottle to collect samples at a depth of 0.3m. The Niskin bottle and collection containers were washed with in situ water before collection took place at each station.


Nitrate, Phosphate & Silicate

100ml of filtered water from each station was collected. The samples for Phosphate and Nitrate analysis was collected in brown glass bottles and samples for Silicate analysis collected in plastic bottles. The samples were filtered through GFF paper and the collection bottles rinsed with filtered sample water before collection.

Water samples were analysed in the lab to give Nitrate, Phosphate and Silicate concentrations for the water samples via methods described on the methods sheets.


Phytoplankton

100ml of unfiltered water sample was collected directly from the Niskin bottle into Lugols brown glass phytoplankton bottles containing Lugols Iodine for phytoplankton staining.

Phytoplankton were identified and counted for each sample using light microscopes. This data was scaled to provide average numbers of different phytoplankton types at each site for a specified water volume.


Chlorophyll

50ml of filtered water sample was collected using a syringe and GFF paper. If the filter paper remained intact and there was no leaks in the holder, the filter was removed and folded inwards using tweezers to prevent contamination. If the filter was damaged the previous steps were repeated until an undamaged filter was obtained. The folded filter was placed into a pre-filled tube of 90% Acetone. The sealed tube was inverted until the filter was completely submerged. This process was repeated 3 times at each station, using a new filter for each tube. Tubes were stored in the dark in a cool box for later analysis.

Chlorophyll concentrations were calculated using a fluorometer and techniques described on the methods sheet.


Drag Net samples

1L Zooplankton samples were collected at 2 locations using the plankton net which was deployed and dragged behind the boat for 5 minutes each time. The net used had a mesh size of 210 microns and an opening diameter of 50cm. The data from the attached flow meter was recorded before and after deployment. The samples collected were fixed with 10% Formaldehyde solution.

10ml samples placed in Bogorov chambers were analysed through identification and counting of zooplankton species using light microscopes.



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