Marine Directorate Communications

Written 357 posts

It’s time to Celebrate the Sea

17th June 2016

Today is World Ocean’s Day! A day recognized by the United Nations as a global day of ocean celebration and collaboration for a better future. This year, individuals and organizations across the planet are celebrating under the theme “Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet” and are promoting prevention of plastic ocean pollution with an array of events and…

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Listening for Marine Mammals

3rd June 2016

The East Coast Marine Mammal Acoustic Study (ECOMMAS) array continued collecting data in 2016. On the 28th of April Alba na Mara sailed from Fraserburgh to deploy moorings at 10 station locations along the Scottish East Coast. The trip lasted 10 days and all the moorings were deployed successfully. The marine mammal listening array extends…

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Alba na Mara: Survey 0916A Programme

20th May 2016

Duration: 19 May – 07 June 2016 Fishing Gear: Scallop dredges Project: 20 days, SU02NS Objectives: To carry out a survey of scallop stocks on the East Coast; To age, measure and assess shell damage on all scallops caught; To collect information on by-catch of other commercial fish and shellfish species; To identify and quantify…

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MV Clupea changes course from Research to Rescue

17th May 2016

Marine Scotland’s former research vessel Clupea has recently found a new vocation turning from research cruises to rescue missions.  Now known as Sea-Watch 2, the MV Clupea underwent some major refit works in Hamburg, including the addition of a medical ward, to allow it to operate all year round and under bad weather conditions when,…

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MRV Alba na Mara: Survey 0816A Programme

12th May 2016

Duration: 10-17 May 2016 Equipment:  BIGG sledge (Benthic Interactions with Ground Gear) Netting frames and netting samples Rubber matting Load cells Sequoia LISST 100X particle size analysers Aquatec 210TY turbidity meters Video Cameras and Flashback recorders Scanmar units Flowmeters Day grab (including table) Objectives: To estimate hydrodynamic drag for netting samples towed close on the…

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Alba na Mara Survey 0716A Programme

6th May 2016

Duration: 28 April – 07 May 2016 Gear: Surface and subsurface PAM moorings Objectives: To deploy a series of moorings comprising dhan buoys (eight surface marked moorings) and acoustic release systems (22subsurface moorings) with attached acoustic recording devices (30 C-POD and 10 SM2M) as part of the east coast marine mammal monitoring programme (see Table…

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Celebrating 50 years of the Girnock Burn Fish trap

21st March 2016

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the Girnock Burn fish trap on the River Dee in Aberdeenshire. The Girnock Burn fish trap is one of only three long-term fish population monitoring facilities in Scotland where detailed information on adult and emigrant numbers, sizes and ages of Atlantic salmon is obtained by Marine Scotland Science (MSS)…

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Model Success for Oceanographers

18th March 2016

The Scottish Government has funded a new hydrodynamic model, called the Scottish Shelf Model (SSM), developed under the direction of Marine Scotland scientists, to describe the physical marine environment around our firths and sea lochs at the coast, up to the edge of the continental shelf and into the North Sea. Hydrodynamic models are computer…

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Our Inspirational Women in Science

10th March 2016

To further inspire and promote the role of women in STEM roles, two of Marine Scotland Science’s highly experienced oceanographers will be taking part in Scottish science events this and next month. Resident Oceanographer and ScienceGrrl Dr Sarah Hughes will be participating in British Science Week, the UK’s annual celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths,…

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MRV Alba na Mara: Survey 0316A Programme

4th March 2016

Duration: 7-21 March 2016 Equipment: BT 201 Prawn net – rigged with separator grid and two 80 mm codends Trawl doors Sweeps, bridles, backstrops and pennants Spare netting and twine Live capture codends PSL5000 light unit x 2 4 x 10m side emitting light cables Battery pods Video Cameras Flashback recorders and housing Pyramid camera…

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