NOC News Round Up 19 May

Searching for microplastics in marine sediment cores This week scientists on board the RRS Discovery have been taking cores of marine sediment and slicing them into depth sections for microplastic analysis once back on land. Earlier in the week the team spotted wildlife, including pilot whales (photographed below) whilst collected data from over 20 conductivity, depth and temperature instruments along the Ellet line, in the North Atlantic. This data will form part of sustained observations in this area, which will help improve understanding of the circulation and fluxes of the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre. This Gyre greatly affects the climate of the North Atlantic and Europe through its impact on air temperature, precipitation and wind strength, as well as being highly significant to the region's marine ecosystems. To learn more about what the team have been up to on this expedition, which is part of the NOC-led UK OSNAP project, click here to read the blog, or here to follow the project on twitter. European Maritime Day The NOC has been exhibiting at the 10th EMD conference which ran this week on 18-19 May in Poole. Over 600 participants attended the conference, including plenary sessions, stakeholder workshops, exhibitions and project presentations. The conference is followed by the Poole Maritime Festival (18-21 May), engaging the general public and celebrating Poole and Dorset's local maritime heritage and environment. As part of EMD the NOC hosted a Knowledge Transfer Partnership meeting between Marine South East, EUROCEAN and the COLUMBUS project. Pictured below are the participants enjoying a tour of the NOC Southampton workshop housing our remotely operated vehicle 'ROV Isis'.   This email was sent using GovDelivery, on behalf of: National Oceanography Centre · Waterfront Campus · European Way · Southampton · SO14 3ZH · United Kingdom