It is an exhausted but very satisfied Louise Schlüter, Head of Laboratory at DHI who is back from the Galathea III expedition leg to the Indian Ocean - the third largest body of water in the world. The mission of the Galathea III expedition is not only to follow in the footsteps of the historic Danish natural science expeditions Galathea I and II carried out 150 and 50 years ago, but also to create more interest for natural science amongst youngsters. By combining this objective with a number of research projects the circumnavigation of the expedition, onboard the Ram hopes to shed much more light on the actual state of the oceans and maybe also discover new species. This is certainly the hope of the scientists aboard, who have access to the most modern sampling and analysis equipment available.
Going whale watching
”Ninety percent of the algae in the Indian Ocean are so tiny that you can not see them in a normal microscope. That is where our method comes into play. We can categorise algae down to 0.7 micron and thereby effectively determine the entire algae composition and biomass in a sample. Furthermore we can analyse up to 35 samples a day while the more traditional method is so time consuming that only one or two samples a day may be analysed, and furthermore the traditional method only allows for the larger algae to be classified. Just to put it into perspective there are many thousands different types of algae in the Indian Ocean, so it is quite a task to determine the actual composition of a sample” says Louise Schlüter with a big smile.
The method referred to has been developed at DHI and utilises pigment standards to calibrate a HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography). This makes it possible to determine the actual composition and biomass of algae in a sample. A cost-effective and accurate method to determine the actual state of the oceans and water bodies in general.
“From a professional point of view the most exciting part of the expedition was that our method proved so successful and constantly yielded results. Only real bad weather – and we did have our fair share – prevented us from working and analysing samples. On the more personal level it was a great experience to be part of a well functioning team of colleagues and crew members all sharing a common objective and all willing to give the extra effort it takes to make the mission successful. This is teamwork at its best and it’s most inspirational” says Louise Schlüter and ads: “Working together with so many different people under such confined conditions is really something special. Often we were 6-8 or more in each laboratory container, which basically is a standard ship container equipped with an array of laboratory equipment securely lashed down. You have to make the best of it and everyone did. This and the helpfulness of the crew certainly contributed to the good atmosphere aboard”.
Preparing the HPLC for rough weather
The Ram is a Danish Naval vessel built in 1990 and has earlier been used to perform surveillance voyages in the harsh waters around Greenland and the Faroe Islands. It is capable of ploughing its way through nearly three feet thick ice at sea without any trouble. Fully equipped laboratories have been established on the aft deck normally used as the helicopter landing pad. After having been refurbished for the expedition it is able to function as a base for up to 100 persons at any time. However, as a Naval vessel Naval rules apply and are enforced.
“We were given a two hour introduction to how a Naval vessel functions, where to muster and so on – and from then on that was how it worked. The first day aboard I misunderstood one of the announcements ordering the crew to muster at the helicopter hangar - in Naval uniform. I obviously did not have a Naval uniform but thankfully later found out that jeans where quite acceptable for a civilian like me, but mealtimes you obey or you get reprimanded! For a civilian landlubber like me it was certainly a different environment but you soon learn to accept that this is what it takes to make day-to-day life work aboard a seagoing vessel, where there incidentally is preciously little privacy”.
For Louise Schlüter the expedition has also resulted in a lot of new contacts with scientists sharing the same interest in the state of the oceans. It has also convinced others that the applied method is much more efficient than more traditional methods and sparked considerable scientific interest.
“It has been a great experience in spite of the long hours and seasickness. I would certainly like to do this again – but at the moment I need some time at home and behind my desk to digest all the impressions” says Louise Schlüter with a slightly dreaming look in her eyes after having travelled from the Cape to Australia and successfully analysed more than 300 water samples on this leg of the expedition.
Microscopes are everywhere – here in the helicopter hangar