This cruise is taking place aboard the MS Solvik from the 1st to the 10th August 2015, sampling in Lurefjorden and Masfjorden in Norway.
Collaborators:
Akvaplan-niva
Norwegian Institute for Water Research
International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS)
University of Oslo
Ghent University
National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS)
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
Laval University, Canada
Project leaders:
Dr Paul Renaud (Akvaplan-niva)
Dr Andrew Kvassnes Sweetman (IRIS)
The Jelly Farm Project:
Ocean
health is declining due to a combination of climate warming and
human
activities, and is often accompanied by a reduction in ecosystem
services.
This decline is particularly evident in coastal regions where inputs
from
municipal, agricultural, aquaculture, and industrial sources lead to
blooms of
algae and gelatinous plankton. In Norway, one of the main threats
to the
health of coastal ecosystems is an increase in the deposition of
organic
matter to the sea floor. Excess feed and fish-waste from fish farms
are major
sources of organic matter, and the sinking of dead jellyfish, an
increasing
problem in some fjords, is another. This organic matter can alter
the
nutrient cycling on the sea floor and, in some cases, result in severe
depletion
of dissolved oxygen in the water. This can have impacts throughout the
ecosystem, as well as upon the economic services that the ecosystems
provide
for society. We will investigate the effects of organic inputs from
these two
sources individually and in combination, in both southern and
northern
Norwegian fjords. We will use modern technology to quantify the
inputs
and the consumption of organic matter at the sea floor, and then
bring
these data into state-of-the-art ecosystem models to put them in a
broader
context. We will then use the modelled predictions to identify the
effects
of organic enrichment on ecosystem services. Finally these results
will be
presented to diverse stakeholders for use in coastal planning and
management
decisions.
Dr Andrew Kvassnes Sweetman, International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS) (Project leader)
Prof Elisabeth Alve, University of Oslo (Principal investigator)
Dr Silvia Hess, University of Oslo
Magnhild Torper, MSc student, University of Oslo
Graihagh Hardinge, PhD student, Natural History Museum London, University of Southampton
Jelly Farm Cruise August 2015 aboard MS Solvik. From left to right: Graihagh Hardinge, Dr Andrew Sweetman, Prof Elisabeth Alve, Leon Pedersen, Dr Silvia Hess, Magnhild Torper. |
MS Solvik, captained by Leon Pedersen. |
Christoffer Schander (1960 - 2012) was Professor of Marine Biodiversity for the Department of Biology at the University of Bergen from 2004 to 2011. This memorial fund, which provides support for fieldwork and museum collections-based projects, has allowed Graihagh to travel to Norway to sample Periphylla jellyfish. These samples will be analysed at the Natural History Museum London and the National Oceanography Centre Southampton post-cruise.
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