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RV Lough Foyle LF 1402

Cruise summary report

Cruise Info. 
Ship name (ship code)RV Lough Foyle (74LG)
Cruise identifierLF 1402
Cruise period2002-04-02 — 2002-04-04
StatusCompleted
Port of departureBelfast, United Kingdom
Port of returnBelfast, United Kingdom
PurposeResearch
ObjectivesObjectives

1. To maintain a nutrient and remote monitoring programme at mooring station 38A.
2. To assess temperature, salinity and nutrient distributions over depth at stations 38A and 47.

Narrative

In preparation for the cruise, all DANI scientific crew were onboard by 2000 hrs when mooring components and the automated sampler were prepared for deployment. Following a talk on ship's safety and a demonstration of personal life saving equipment, the RV Lough Foyle departed Belfast at 2030 hrs and sailed overnight in a fresh westerly wind towards the mooring site at station 38A.

Overnight the wind decreased and the vessel arrived at the mooring site at 0600 hrs. The weather was dry with a light westerly breeze when work for the day started at 0745 hrs. The instrument mooring was recovered to ship deck at 0820 hrs. The mooring components were inspected for corrosion and replaced where necessary. The thermistor chain was removed from the mooring wire and temperature data downloaded. The CTD and fluorormeter were also removed, data downloaded and reprogrammed. The automated water sampler was removed and replaced with a similar pre programmed unit. An additional "large volume" water sampler programmed for daily sampling of the plankton population was also attached. The mooring components, thermistors, CTD and fluorometer were then reassembled, the satellite tracking system was confirmed working and the mooring was successfully redeployed at1140 hrs on position 530 46l .938N 50 38l .117W. The rosette water sampler and zooplankton net were deployed and the survey continued to station 47 off the Drogheda fore shore, where the water and zooplankton sampling operations were repeated.

Work on the station was completed at 1500 hrs and the vessel sailed to dock in Belfast at 2230 hrs.
Chief scientistBrian Stewart (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland)
Cruise reportRV Lough Foyle LF 1402 cruise report lf02-10-14_02.pdf (0.02 MB) 
Ocean/sea areas 
GeneralIrish Sea and St. George's Channel
SpecificIrish Sea (north); ICES div. VIIa