ANNUAL REPORT - Marine Institute Open Access Repository

Marine Institute Annual Report 2008
Ocean Science Services
Director’s Statement
In 2008 the Ocean Science Services
Group (OSS) continued to widen its range
of activities through the SSTI-funded
climate change and marine exploration
programmes, in addition to its normal
wide range of activities at national and
international level. OSS contributed
significantly to the national Marine RTDI
Strategy (Sea Change) implementation
process through project support, technical
advice and management input.
Notable highlights are included here and in Appendix 6 on the Research
Vessel Programme 2008:
The mandatory 5 year refit of the RV Celtic Explorer was completed by the end
of February 2008. 255 scientific days were completed onboard the RV Celtic
Explorer from March to December and 268 days on the RV Celtic Voyager.
› P&O Maritime services completed a third year of providing ship
management, operation and maintenance services for the national
research fleet, working closely with the R.V. Ops team to complete a
demanding programme of activity for both vessels.
› An intensive fisheries programme which included; three acoustic
survey programmes, a deepwater fisheries survey and an annual
groundfish survey. A new fibre optic underwater TV system was
commissioned and installed on the RV Celtic Voyager which delivered
28 days of UWTV surveys for Nephrops prawn stock assessment.
› The new deepwater ROV system was successfully delivered on time
and on budget, and was mobilised and integrated with the RV Celtic
Explorer prior to planned offshore trials in early 2009.
› The University of Bremen’s “MEBO” robotic drill rig was installed and
operated once again from the RV Celtic Explorer for the INFOMAR
deep drill survey which took place during August/September.
› Open days were held in Killybegs on the RV Celtic Explorer and the
RV Celtic Voyager, and on the RV Celtic Explorer in Dublin, providing
excellent opportunities to showcase the activities of the vessels
to key stakeholders in the fishing community, other state bodies,
secondary level schools and to the general public.
› The EMSO project (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory)
kicked off in April 2008. Both EMSO and the larger ESONET are
concerned with the development of cabled seafloor observatories at
twelve sites on the European margin.
› 2008 also saw the first deployment of four Argo data floats in
Irish waters in the Rockall Trough in spring 2008 funded by the
NDP. Oceanographic information from these floats is now being
successfully transmitted via satellite to Data Management Centres
around the world.
› Stakeholders from third level institutes attended two IMEP meetings
hosted in Dublin and Limerick in July 2008 to advance a strategic
approach to deep sea research in Ireland.
› The annual ‘Bright Sparks’ competition for 5 days ship-time on
the RV Celtic Voyager was won by a group from QUB, UCC and
NUI, Galway. The successful students completed a survey on the
occurrence of algal rafts in offshore waters.
› Two SALSEA surveys were completed on the RV Celtic Explorer and
RV Celtic Voyager which saw both vessels completing an innovative
trawling survey for salmon smolt in Faroese, Scottish and Irish waters.
Mr. Michael Gillooly
Director: Ocean Science Services
Research Vessel Operations
A strong multidisciplinary and diversified programme of research vessel
activity was delivered on both the RV Celtic Explorer and the RV Celtic
Voyager in 2008 as detailed in Appendix 6.
In late 2008 the new Integrated Marine Exploration Programme (IMEP)
commenced, funded under the Government’s Strategy for Science,
Technology and Innovation (SSTI) to provide experience at sea for second
and third level students through a number of programmes including the
Training Through Research Surveys and Science@Sea schemes. The IMEP
field-team also provided over 300 days of ship-based support for eight
integrated research missions including; a bathymetric survey Of the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, annual nutrients, deepwater, groundfish and SALSEA
surveys, eleven dedicated training surveys (institutes include TCD, UCC,
CMRC, NMCI, NUIG, GMIT, UL, UU, QUB) and work for CEFAS.
IMEP also provided funding for mandatory Personal Sea-survival
Techniques (PST STCW 95) certification for over one hundred
undergraduate and postgraduate students participating in seagoing
programmes. Participation was continued in the ESONET NoE (European
Seas Observatory Network - Network of Excellence) project and
organized a WP5 (Implementation Strategies) workshop in March 2008
for European partners from ten participating institutes.
Oceanographic Services
This section provided comprehensive oceanographic services
underpinning many national programmes including; the management
of the national equipment pool as well as management and operations
of the Irish Marine Data Buoy Network. Oceanographic Services also
provided significant input to the provision of a data service to the
marine community. It was also active in ocean modelling and coastal
oceanography, including the development of the Irish National Tide
Gauge Network.
Marine Climate Change Section
Established in late 2007 and funded under the Government’s Strategy
for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) the Marine Climate
Change Section has an ambitious 2 year multi-disciplinary programme
building on historic datasets and current surveys across the Marine
Institute and also relevant national and international activities, as well
as conducting a detailed analysis of key marine and freshwater data sets
in 2008. Considerable capacity has been built in climate and ecosystem
modelling, supported through the procurement of a dedicated High
Performance Computing Cluster. This new infrastructure allows Marine
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