Caribbean research cruises

The day for me to share this is here.
My close friends and family have already known for a good while, even though the details have changed on a monthly basis since the very beginning of 2018.
To make a long story short: last year my lab (supervisor) was invited to two back-to-back research cruises in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, by two different research groups based in the US. A region well known for high abundances and blooms of the particular diatom-cyanobacteria symbiosis that I'm interested in.

My PhD student colleague, our lab's post-doc and one master student got the opportunity to go on the first cruise, going from Cape Verde to Puerto Rico aboard the legendary R/V Atlantis (the mother ship of the submersible Alvin). This cruise was completed late March after almost 6 weeks at sea, crossing the equator twice.

Map of the Caribbean and Central America. Barbados is located north of Guyana and Puerto Rico is located north of Venezuela. The Amazon River is located at the edge of the bottom right corner of the map (south of French Guiana).

Now, the second cruise is due the 6th of May until the 1st of June, and I've been scrambling these last few weeks to get organized and prepared for departure. I'm leaving, as the lone representative out of my lab (and Stockholm University), to participate in my third research cruise, which will go from Barbados, down to the Amazon River and back up to Puerto Rico, aboard the R/V Endeavor.
It is an extremely unique and exciting opportunity, but it is also important to remember that I will most likely work non-stop and collect crucial samples for my current and last project for my doctorate. Next year I'm supposed to defend my PhD thesis.

The R/V Endeavor sampling at open sea.

So as I'm writing this, I've packed the last of the equipment I need from the lab together with our lab group technician, I've fixed all the required paperwork, I've managed my visa's, I've taken my vaccines, I've put together a robust sampling plan together with my supervisor and now I'm sitting on a train back home to my family. I'm looking forward to a few days off before I fly out of Gothenburg next week.
This blog will once again be one of my channels of communication while I'm out at sea and I will try to update it regularly.
Stay tuned!