RRS Discovery DY099
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RRS Discovery (74EQ) |
| Cruise identifier | DY099 |
| Cruise period | 2019-02-16 — 2019-03-08 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Stanley, Falkland Islands (Malvinas) |
| Port of return | Stanley, Falkland Islands (Malvinas) |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Blue Belt: Benthic biodiversity of the South Sandwich Islands
The overall aim of DY99 was to gain a wider understanding of the regional benthic ecosystem at the South Sandwich Islands and thereby provide advice to GSGSSI that would enable it to determine the effectiveness of current management measures and to further enhance its management of the region. The specific DY99 survey objectives were: - Seabed imagery: Collect high-resolution seabed imagery of the benthic environment at the South Sandwich Islands at increasing depth along the length of the archipelago. - Acoustic data collection: Acquire acoustic data throughout the survey transit and from areas of interest to improve information on (i) bathymetry, and (ii) of the pelagic biomass, through the passive collection of water column acoustic data. - Specimen collection: Deploy the Agassiz trawl and / or benthic dredge, following the deployment of the deep-water camera, to enable species identification, collection of samples to determine the genetic connectivity of the region's benthic species and to conduct geochemical analysis of coral skeletons to examine past ocean conditions, growth and biomineralization rates. - Marine mammal observations: Use the opportunity to collect supplementary information on location and abundance of marine mammals to improve understanding of their distribution during the time period of the survey. |
| Chief scientist | Christopher Darby (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Lowestoft Laboratory) |
| Cruise report |  (20.82 MB) (1.50 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | Southern Ocean Unknown |
| Specific | South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area (SGSSI MPA) |