6 days of packing equipment, a sea survival course and 7 weeks at sea, what a hectic and fantastic way to start my PhD at Plymouth Marine Laboratory!
Now its day 12 on the James Cook and AMT19 is well under way. I have found my sea legs and am having the best time. I have very recently started my PhD with Jo Dixon as my main supervisor and we are locked in, together with Claire in our radio-chemical container (which now has working air conditioning – a must!).
Making great friends
A heavy spout of rain
Yesterday’s weather was pretty wet and muggy. However, today we have had the best weather yet, with everyone trying to get out in the sun at some point between samples. The days here are very long and hard work (a bit of a shock to someone who has spent 3 years as a University student!) but just being out here more then makes up for the lack of sleep.
The novelty of being at sea has not worn off yet and I hope it never does. Finding the time to watch the sun rise and set is just amazing.
The sun has got his hat on!
The sunset gets better every night
Today I have seen flying fish for the first time, watching them fly over the sea’s surface for meters at a time was great!
I feel extremely privileged to be here and hope I get the chance to come on more research cruises (although we still have quite a few weeks left to go, so I reserve the right to change my mind!). I have seen so many amazing sights so far and hopefully there are more to come.