FRV Scotia 0723S
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | FRV Scotia (748S) |
| Cruise identifier | 0723S |
| Cruise period | 2023-06-19 — 2023-06-26 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Aberdeen, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Aberdeen, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | Objectives (in priority order)
1. Acquire 125 grab and PSA samples from inside Central Fladen MPA. 2. Acquire ten grab and PSA samples from the Sub-Glacial Tunnel Valley floor within Central Fladen MPA. 3. Acquire 40 grab and PSA samples from outside Central Fladen MPA MPA, Box A. 4. Acquire 40 grab and PSA samples from outside Central Fladen MPA MPA, Box B. 5. Acquire multibeam data from the Sub Glacial Tunnel Valley within Central Fladen MPA. Narrative MRV Scotia sailed from Aberdeen at 15:30 hours on 19 June and began transit to Stonehaven for a multibeam patch test. A muster stations safety drill and risk assessment review were completed on route. The multibeam patch test started at 17:30 hours and was completed by 22:30 hours, at which time the transit to Central Fladen MPA began. The vessel arrived at the northern end of the Central Fladen MPA and began collecting Day grabs for survey Objective 1 at 12:15 hours on 20 June. Day grab operations continued, interrupted only by a lightning storm between 08:45 hours and 09:45 hours on 21 June, until Objective 1 was completed and 125 Day grab samples were collected by 07:30 hours on 24 June. Work on Objective 2 then began, with the ten stations within the sub-glacial valley successfully collected by 16:10 hours. With limited survey time remaining to complete a whole survey box for survey Objectives 3 or 4, the decision was made to start survey Objective 5. At 16:10 hours we started a short transit to a nearby location to collect a sound velocity profile and begin the multibeam survey of the Fladen Deeps sub-glacial valley feature, which continued until 10:00 hours on 25 June, at which point there was an issue with the multibeam transmitter. At 11:00 hours it was advised that resolving this issue would require returning to port and raising the drop keel. At this point multibeam data from approximately one quarter of the Fladen Deeps sub-glacial trench had been collected. With only a few hours of survey time left it would not be possible to address survey Objectives 3 and 4. The decision was made to make passage for Aberdeen, arriving at 07:45 hours on 26 June, bringing the survey to a close. |
| Chief scientist | David A Stirling (Marine Scotland Aberdeen Marine Laboratory), James Albrecht (Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough Office) |
| Cruise programme |  (0.17 MB) |
| Cruise report | (0.54 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North Sea |
| Specific | Fladen |
