The Meteor unmoored and left Fortaleza this morning before 09:00, and we are now sailing for our first sampling station. We are leaving the coast 10 km behind, and in the bright sunshine the water is very blue. We expect to to encounter first green water and then brown water as we go north and get closer to the Amazon river mouth. As we approach our stations along the mangrove region, and close to within a kilometre or two of the coast, we may also see a change in water colour.
Meanwhile, the scientists have been hard at work and most of the equipment and labs are now organised and ready for the sampling stations. This includes the CTD and MUC samplers, which we will detail in the next posts, and there is a buzz of excitement around the ship as we begin our work in earnest, and this requires careful planning to make the best use of time and money. There is also already some filtering and analysis being done of water samples taken during the PROBAL programme just before M206. Here, a station meeting is in progress to discuss the details of the correct deployment of equipment for the first station tomorrow morning at 08:20.
Outside, work goes on all day and night for the captain and crew. Although we are at the beginning of the wet season in the Amazon, here, further south, we have wall-to-wall sunshine, and temperatures even 10km from the land are around 30 degrees, and a lot more if you’re not in the shade. We have to be careful and take suitable precautions when we go on deck for any length of time.
Throughout the day, with such a lot of energy being expended, the chief steward and her staff have to feed over 60 hungry mouths. The times may seem odd to some people, but we soon get used to breakfast at 07:15, lunch at 11:15 and dinner at 17:15. The food is both tasty and nutritious.
