Field station full of stories

Category: teaching (Page 1 of 2)

Sailing through the North Sea

Bergen-Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

Sometimes work takes you to surprising places. Last week, together with almost 100 other trainees, I boarded a three-masted steel barque Statsraad Lehmkuhl, built in 1914, and began a 6-day sailing voyage through the North Sea .  The sailing voyage from Bergen to Shetland islands was organized by TSYK merilukio, a local high school with maritime orientation, in order to celebrate its 10th anniversary. In addition to teachers, and current and graduated students from the school, I was joined by maritime students and personnel from Aboa Mare (a Maritime Academy and Training Center in Turku) and Novia University of Applied Sciences, a fellow marine biologist, researchers from The Forum Marinum Maritime Centre and two naval cadets from the Finnish Naval Academy. On Sunday 26.8, we set sails in Bergen, Norway and began our almost 500 nm long voyage.

Bergen-Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

Our group, consisting of 90-something members, arrived to Bergen harbour on Sunday at 10 am. Despite of our expectations, we did not set sails immediately but were introduced to the ship’s safety instructions and rules first – as is appropriate. Our first activities at sea was a mast climbing exercise.

Bergen-Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

On board we were accustomed quickly to the ships daily routines.  During the voyage, we slept in hammocks, which turned out to be surprisingly comfy.

Bergen Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

We participated as crew and actively took part in all aspects of sailing the vessel. Also training on various sailing-related topics was offered whenever possible.

Bergen-Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

During our first day, our group was placed in 3 watch groups and each of us worked 2 * 4 hours a day. I was placed in a team called blue-watch, which worked during 08.00-12.00 and 20.00-24.00. During the voyage, one could participate in the vessel’s activities as much as one could and wanted.

Bergen-Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

Climbing the rigging turned out to be the most popular activity during the voyage.

Bergen-Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

In the Shetland islands, we managed to collect several interesting samples from a beach nearby St. Ninians Isle and studied the species together with the high school students. The many differences and similarities between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea were also discussed.

Bergen-Shetlannin saaret purjehdus

We sailed home in favorable wind conditions. Many oil platforms were seen in the horizon. Also, jellyfish, a baskin shark, a dolphin and three orcas were spotted during the voyage! Alas, the voyage has to end sometime, but new plans for collaboration have already arisen and hopefully we’ll sail together again!

Read also:

Text and pictures: Katja Mäkinen, research technician and phd researcher

Week in pictures: Brackish-water ecology course 2018

Did you know that field courses have been organized in Seili since the 1960s? This week undergraduate biology and geography students from the University of Turku arrived to Seili to learn about the special characteristics and ecology of the Baltic Sea and Archipelago Sea. During the course week, students participated in sampling cruises on board of the Institute’s vessels r/v Aurelia and Seili 5 and conducted several laboratory exercises. The course has been organized in its current state since 2003 and is teached by the staff of the Archipelago Research Institute. Here’s a photo roundup of the course week.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

After the introductory lecture at Turku University campus, it was time to start the  first sampling cruise from the Aurajoki River. At 10:00 sharp, we embarked on our research vessel r/v Aurelia and headed toward the first sampling point just outside the Aurajoki river. At Linnanaukko (named after its proximity to the Turku castle), the students got to observe the river’s effect on Secchi-depth, salinity, water temperature and bottom macrofauna.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

The sampling cruise continued along the Airisto inlet towards Seili island.  The water quality (temperature, salinity and oxygen content) was monitored with water samples, collected with a Limnos-water sampler as well as with a profiling CTD-sonde.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

On Monday, our journey was favored by the weather gods and the students were able to practice their sampling skills in calm and idyllic weather.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

Thanks to the good weather, we arrived to Seili on record time! Nevertheless, this meant no extra free time for the students as the day continued with an introduction to common Baltic Sea zooplankton species. The Institute’s new seawater laboratory was put to the test and found perfect for these types of exercises.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

On Tuesday, we embarked r/v Aurelia again at 08:00 and headed towards the outer archipelago . Weather forecasts showed heavy winds for the day so an emergency training exercise was in order.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

Marine research can sometimes be very laborous. Lifting the CTD-sonde, tied to a metal frame, from the 100 meter depth of Ådofjärden equates to a workout!

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

During the first two days several bottom sediment samples were taken with Ekman and Van Veen sediment grabs. Preparing the samples for sieving is also known as “mud-therapy”.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

Sometimes there is no choice but to change the course program due to apparent weather conditions. The heavy wind speed (11-12 m/s) forced us to skip beach seining at Boskär-island and we headed toward Seili a bit earlier than anticipated.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

But no worry! Soon after returning to Seili, the students started identifying macrofauna from the sediment samples. And how many interesting species there were! Especially polychaetes became familiar – Marenzelleria spp. abundances were at best up to 200 individuals/per sample.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

On Wednesday morning, on board of our Seili 5 vessel, we headed towards Iso-Kuusinen island in the middle archipelago.  On our way to Iso-Kuusinen, we stopped to take samples at Päiväluoto, the Institute’s at-sea monitoring station where water and plankton samples have been collected since 1966.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

At Iso-Kuusinen, the students were introduced to a beach seine, a qualitative sampling method used to study especially fish, but also invertebrate and algal species in the littoral zone.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

What would a brackish-water course be without getting our feet wet (well, sort of). At the sandy beach, the students were sent hunting for burrowing clams.

STL UTU murtovesikurssi 2018

The final sampling exercise of the week was fishing. Nordic multimesh gillnets were set at three depths (surface, middle and bottom) outside Saunasaari island, in order to study the variability in fish species, their size, weight and location in the water column. The handling of nets went perfectly and we were not left empty handed! After measurements were taken, the fish were put to a freezer and are later send to the University’s Biology department  for other students to study on.

Similar posts:

Field courses introduces to the surrounding nature (English summary at the end of the post)

New seawater laboratory in the making

During the winter, the “Laundry” building has undergone major renovations, which finished a few weeks ago. This week our staff started to move the lab equipment, glassware and other small items from the water lab in the main building (also known as a course lab) to the new sea water lab. The old lab will also undergo some renovations later this year and transform into something complete different. Here is a sneak peak to the new seawater lab!

Seili sea water laboratory

The “Laundry” building (on the left) will significantly improve the field laboratory facilities on the island. Next to it is a red storeroom (“Makasiini”), which includes two climate chambers and a couple freezers, where researchers can store samples during summertime. On the right is the “Sikala” building, named after its ancient use as a piggery. The building nowadays also functions as a small seawater lab with facilities for indoor and outdoor aquaria experiments. 5.5-6 PSU seawater is supplied to both labs with openings outside the island.

Seili sea water laboratory

The laundry room after the renovations.  The old washing machines and drier are replaced with a fume hood and stainless steel tables. The room is almost finished, only a couple of items remain to be added.

Seili sea water laboratory

The former drying room is still empty, waiting for two aquaria racks to be installed. The space is designed for experimental work.

Seili sea water laboratory

Previously a gym for the staff and visitors, this  course room is now a perfect class room for school and university students awaiting to learn about the Baltic Sea and species identification. The cabinets includes new Zeiss stereomicroscopes, acquired with FINMARI funding, and all glassware and plastic items you need in handling samples. Next week the room will receive few finishing touches, when tables and chairs arrive. The room will also include a  video projector and a WiFi connection.

Planning the future of field courses

Last Wednesday morning, a few of us headed towards the University of Helsinki’s Lammi biological station, where we were to attend in the  BIOPEDA -project’s second seminar, funded by the Kone foundation. In the first 3-day seminar, organized in March in the Konnevesi research station (University of Jyväskylä), teachers from every Finnish university came together to discuss the current state and future of biological field courses. Outcomes of this seminar were a webpage maasto-opetus.fi and a publication, published in the Journal of University Pedagogy (in Finnish). The aim of this 2-day seminar was to further develop the webpage, aimed at benefiting both university teachers and students, and to plan future events. 

Field courses are a central part of biological and other nature-related studies. Despite of their relevance, field courses and, also, field stations have been under budget-cuts. The aim of the BIOPEDA project is to improve cooperation between teachers and sharing of teaching resources within the Finnish university research network. This will aid both to reduce costs and improve the diversity and quality of courses offered to students, thus increasing the expertise and know-how available in Finland.

lammin biologinen asema

The snowy landscape of the Lammi biological station.

lammin biologinen asema, biopeda seminaari

Between planning, we also had time to listen and watch a presentation about a Svalbard trip.

Read more:

Maasto-opetus.fi, the university fieldwork website provides fieldwork related resources to teachers and students.

Turpeen uumenissa -blog, news and stories about fieldwork

Finnish Research Stations – a network to reach different Finnish biotopes and ecosystems

We will take a small break from posting new content and  are unplugging to enjoy the holidays. We will be back with new content again in the beginning of next year! We wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Season's greetings from ARI

« Older posts