IMBRSea Joint School - Adventures at the Swedish Coast

SOS! Sensation Of Succeeding Hi all! This is S.O.S’s final blogpost! Last days have been extremely busy: we were collectors, movie makers, statisticians, writers and presenters! All those skills needed to be a good scientist. The final steps to finish our research included making 3D models of the substrate structure of the different materials. Science can look magical, don’t you think? To resume, our aim was to describe the species composition on natural cliffs, concrete and plastic in three different locations in Tjärnö Bay. Regarding our results, we found that the location where the samples of macrofauna and macroflora were taken, as well as the surface type (natural, concrete, and plastic substrate) had an influence on the diversity in the samples. However, in what intensity, depended on both those factors and no solid conclusions can be made. Besides scientifically analysing our samples, we also made a short documentary for all of you to see how we’ve been doing this S...

SOS! Scrapers Of Sweden Time to scrape the substrates! Get on the wetsuits (probably the hardest part), fins on and SPLASH! The sampling days have started and we already feel like part of the marine fauna… hours in the water collecting the samples from the substrates! In order to characterize the benthic communities growing on different substrate types (natural and artificial surfaces: natural rocky walls, concrete pontoons and plastic buoys) we are performing various snorkels in three different locations: 3 substrate types, 3 locations, 4 replicas, easy to say, hard to do and a nightmare for identification. All in the name of science, because knowing the species composition of each of the sites will allow us to understand the effect of the increasing amount of human made establishments in the marine environment. Do the benthic assemblages change in terms of structure and composition? Apart from the classic species identification, we will develop 3D models of the surface structure of...

SOS! Splash: Overexcited Snorkel After three days in Tjärnö, it was time to sit together and put our ideas on the table. We agreed on the sampling methodology and decided to put words into action, big jump into the chilly waters! Scraping walls under the water can be harder than it seems: algae floating around, us bumping into each other, accidental kicks with the fins… Obviously, we were a bit over excited which led to a clumsy day in Tjärnö Bay! S.O.S. clumsy Seals Of Sweden After an early lunch (12 a.m. :O), we had renewed energies for another busy afternoon. Learning from our clumsy morning, we reconsidered our work plan and had the first team argument. Professional as we are, we solved it quickly and went on dividing tasks for the rest of the day. Three of us constructed quadrats and studied our trial samples in the lab, the other three went on trip with the boat to explore the area for good sampling sites. After an early dinner (17 p.m. :O), we explored our inner nerds ...

SOS! Start Of Summer school Welcome to the SOS corner! A blog dedicated to a marine research project in Tjärnö, Sweden, during the Joint School of the IMBRSea master program. We are the Study of Substrate team, SOS, which aims to elucidate the influence of the introduction of artificial hard substrates on the benthic assemblages in the area of Tjärnö Bay. Six marine adventuresome biologists constitute the group with the idea of saving our seas (#saveourseas, #SOS). Each of us has a different background, providing varied knowledge to the project. During our stay in northern lands we will develop a study focusing on hard substrates, both natural and artificial, to characterize the benthic communities to conclude if they host different ones. We are ready for cold waters, some rain, boat rides, sample collection and lab work! Beautiful rocky landscape of Saltö, Sweden Exploring the chillly waters of Tjärnö Bay