Expeditions

Expedition 1

When: June 2017
Ship: Pelagia, NIOZ
Where: The Frisian Front, a sandwave field near Texel, and off the coast near Egmond
Who: Leo Koop, Karin van der Reijden, Sarah O’Flynn

Aims:
DISCLOSE could join this combined research cruise of the SANDBOX and PULSE projects. During the two week expedition, the PULSE project aimed to assess impacts of pulse and beam trawl fisheries on the benthic communities and seafloor characteristics. The SANDBOX project gathered detailed information on sediment and community characteristics over sand waves. DISCLOSE researchers could test their equipment and sampling protocols and gain experience in working on board.

Results: 
– Paper on the spatial distribution of benthic communities and sand ripples over tidal sand waves. pdf
– Paper on the effects of beam trawling on the benthic community.

Expedition 2

Ship: Neptune, OCEANA
When: August 2017
Where: The Borkumer Stones, the Central Oyster Grounds, the Doggerbank, and the Brown Bank
Who: Leo Koop, Karin van der Reijden, Sarah O’Flynn

Aims:
DISCLOSE could join this large exedition of OCEANA. During the 2.5 weeks expedition, OCEANA aimed to strengthen the network of MPAs in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, by collecting video footage, photographes and sediment grab samples in protected and unprotected areas. DISCLOSE researchers contributed to the sampling design by providing detailed knowledge of the targeted areas, and by the interpretation of the gathered data. They furthermore were able to test their equipment.

Results:
Paper on the discovery of Sabellaria spinulosa reefs on the Brown Bank area.

Expedition 3

Ship: Pelagia, NIOZ
When: October 2017
Where: The Brown Bank
Who: Leo Koop, Karin van der Reijden, Sarah O’Flynn

Aims:
This 2-week DISCLOSE expedition surveyed the Brown Bank area in large detail. The Sabellaria spinulosa reefs found during the OCEANA expedition (expedition 2) were studied in more detail. This included their relation to the geomorphologic structure of the Brown Bank Tidal Ridge and superimposed sand waves.

Results:
– Paper on the spatial distribution of endobenthic communities over the tidal ridge and sand waves. pdf
– Paper on seafloor classification of multibeam echosounder data in a sand wave environment. pdf
– Paper on seafloor characterisation using multibeam echosounder backscatter data. pdf

Blog:
Danielle Prins de Jonge joined this expedition. She wrote multiple blogs during the expedition about the planning, the expedition-goals, and life/work on-board.

(1): “We plan to predict life at the Brown Bank, and here’s how”
(2): “Storm! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
(3): “Why we are spying on crabs”
(4): “Diving with Bruce – The quest for Ross worm reefs”
(5): “The multi-faceted life of a scientist”
(6): “Goodbye North Sea – Hello office”

Expedition 4

Ship: Pelagia, NIOZ
When: May 2019
Where: The Brown Bank
Who: Leo Koop, Karin van der Reijden

Aims:
This 1-week DISCLOSE expedition was dedicated to investigate the Sabellaria spinulosa reefs found during the OCEANA expedition (expedition 2). Main research questions were to assess the spatial distrubution/extent of the Sabellaria reefs and their effect on the local biodiversity/ecosystem.

Results:
– Paper on the identification of centimeter-scale sand ripples with multibeam echosounder data. pdf
– Manuscript on the conservation implications of reef patchiness for Sabellaria spinulosa reefs. (currently under review)

Expedition 5

Ship: Pelagia, NIOZ
When: October 2019
Where: A transect from Terschelling to the Doggerbank
Who: Karin van der Reijden, Timo Gaida (TU Delft)

Aims:
This 2-week expedition was shared with NIOZ researcher Helge Niemann, who focused on methane leaking near the Doggerbank. DISCLOSE aimed to collect acoustic, videographic and macrobenthic data over the range of habitats encountered when sailing from Terschelling to the Doggerbank. These include the coastal zone, the Frisian Front, the Central Oyster Grounds and the Doggerbank. With that data, DISCLOSE aimed to create a ‘fingerprint’ of these habitats, which would help to extrapolate observations between the various measuring techniques.

Results:
Manuscript on habitat-specific acoustic “fingerprints” (in progress)