fieldwork

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Seaweed on the rocks

It is SUCH an advantage to have access to an ice breaking ship when one works with seaweed.
Mid-March is unfortunately not always full of sun, birdsong and warm spring temperatures.
On March 18th, we wrwe out at the Askö laboratory to do a reading of some experiments that have been out in the sea over winter.

Havet the door

With a lilttle help from the ice breaking R/V AURELIA and skipper Eddie, I could reach one of the sites, located just south of the boathouse.

The seaweed has not suffered from the cold winter, but was in good shape. When I lifted the “weedbeds” up onto the ice, lots and lots of animals swam out. Small crustaceans, gastropods and caddis worms a plenty, all of them have spent the winter in the seaweed.

Tång o is

Allthough the visibility in the water is very good this time of year, and the temperature is, well, shall we say refreshing, I can’t help but longing for summer. It is quite a struggle to move large sheets of ice when one is i the water…

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Into the deep

Here is a clip from the “seaweed-bed” at the Askö laboratory, where most of our experiments are going on. This was filmed in january 2012, with the purpose of checking on the bed, change light/temperature sensor and collect some plates for measure of juvenile growth.

The bed holds about 60 ceramic tiles, onto which we have “sown” bladderwrack and some other wrack crosses. We use the non-glazed side of the tiles since it is important that the surface is porous enough for the seaweed eggs to attach. This makes for some interesting conversations when we buy tiles!