RRS Discovery D334P
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74E3) |
| Cruise identifier | D334P |
| Cruise period | 2008-09-28 — 2008-10-08 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Govan, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain |
| Purpose | Passage |
| Objectives | The objectives of the cruise were to make use of the passage of the RRS Discovery from the Clyde to Tenerife by servicing moorings in the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP) and also to conduct towing trials on a new bio-acoustic tow fish developed at NOCS (Towed EK60).
The ship departed Govan dock on the morning of the 28th September and made passage for the PAP mooring site - approximately 48 59N 16 30W - via the Irish Sea, St George's Channel and the Celtic Sea. On arrival at the moorings site on the 2nd October, the PAP3 mooring was released and recovered. This was followed by transiting northwards and releasing and recovering the remains of the PAP1 DOMS mooring. The top part and surface buoy of this mooring had broken free and had been previously recovered by the RV Pelagia in October 2007. PAP3 was redeployed on the 3rd October in the same spot as it was recovered. The ship then made passage for the Canary Islands. On the 6th, 8th and 9th October the towed EK60 fish was deployed for engineering tow trials. On the 10th October the calibration rig for the towed EK60 fish was tested in calm waters off Gomera. Once completed the ship made final passage for Santa Cruz arriving on the morning of the 11th. During this cruise no scientific data were collected apart from that on the moorings. |
| Chief scientist | Ian P Rouse (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton) |
| Cruise report |  (0.60 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North East Atlantic Ocean (limit 40W) |
| Specific | North West Atlantic, Porcupine Abyssal Plain |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Current meters | 48° 58' 59" N 16° 27' 59" W — PAP3 mooring - 3 sediment traps, 3 current meters - recovered 2/10/08 |
| Current meters | 49° 58' 59" N 16° 27' 59" W — PAP3 mooring - 3 sediment traps, 2 current meters - redeployed 3/10/08 |
| Biology and fisheries | |
| Sediment traps | 49° 58' 59" N 16° 27' 59" W — PAP3 mooring - 3 sediment traps, 2 current meters - redeployed 3/10/08 |
| Sediment traps | 48° 58' 59" N 16° 27' 59" W — PAP3 mooring - 3 sediment traps, 3 current meters - recovered 2/10/08 |
| Data held at BODC | |
| Discrete samples | |
| 1 Instrument mooring | Sedimentation flux quantification in the water column |
