Up to a few years ago, 24/7 monitoring of our seas was not possible as data collection followed certain protocols that involved direct sampling through the fields of SCUBA diving, or on board vessels, or through human-mediated instrument deployment.
The ‘operational’ aspect of marine monitoring was unheard of. There has been a sea of change since the days of traditional sampling at sea, with a plethora of contraptions, ranging from the smallest, such as water temperature data loggers which record water temperature every hour round the clock for five consecutive years, to the largest, such as permanent moorings of gliders which embark on a pre-programmed itinerary of hundreds of kilometres which involve dives down to 1000m followed by surfacing.
The contemporary marine scientist toolbox reserves yet another trump card: citizen science, which is increasingly being used to track elusive phenomena such as alien species introductions in our waters and the blooming of jellyfish species.
During this session, Prof. Alan Deidun will go through a broad-brush itinerary of these innovative marine monitoring techniques.
Date: Wednesday 30 November
Time: 19:30 (doors open at 19:00)
Venue: Cinema Room, Spazju Kreattiv St James Cavalier