19 to 25 November 2007
The
fourth and last week of our month-long cruise has passed quickly. We
occupied additional stations south of the Walvis Ridge (west of
Namibia) and carried out our sampling there successfully. The last
samples were collected and the nets were reduced to their component
parts. Our instrumentation was removed, packed into boxes, and
stored in shipping containers. The ship-board labs and cold rooms
were cleaned to a high polish.
We are going home with much data
and many samples, which will keep many of us busy for the next months
and even years. The full extent of our scientific findings cannot yet
be fully assessed, but there is already clear evidence that our
expedition is a great success.
More than 1 million cubic meters
of seawater was filtered with our nets, and more than 60,000 specimens
have been sorted and identified (Table 1).
In all, 2,043
specimens of 389 species were submitted for DNA barcoding during the
cruise, and the on-board DNA sequencing lab determined 122 DNA
sequences of the targeted barcode region for 66 species. The
taxonomists have not yet identified all of the animals found in the
samples, yet they are certain that there are new species among them. A
truly magnificent treasure trove for taxonomists and molecular genetics!
While
the zooplanktologists were sorting and identifying animals under the
microscope, the non-zooplanktologists were eagerly collecting and
analyzing air and water samples. The phytoplanktologists, for instance,
filtered about 3,700 L of seawater, using 485 filters and making 56,778
measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence in surface water collected
from the “moon pool” – the central well of the ship. Meanwhile,
meteorologists from Kiel took 71,202 cloud photos.
On November 24, to mark the end of our cruise, we had a final barbeque on the working deck and in the big wet lab.
ANT
XXIV/1 was a very harmonious and successful cruise. The competent,
friendly and encouraging support of Captain Jakobi and the entire crew
has contributed considerably to the success of our cruise: we thank
them very much!
On November 26, we will disembark in Cape Town.
We will say goodbye to Polarstern, our friends and colleagues sadly,
but we are also looking forward to Cape Town and to returning home.
With best regards from all of us
Sigrid Schiel
(Chief Scientist)
Table 1: Summary of the numbers of sorted specimens and identified species during the cruise
