Down into the ocean’s ‘twilight zone’ with Boaty McBoatface
It is exciting technology but the science that Boaty was doing could be part of a game-changer in how scientists understand climate change.
They want to understand something called the biological carbon pump – a constant and huge movement of carbon inside the oceans.
Tiny plants that absorb carbon grow near the ocean’s surface. Animals, often microscopic, eat the plants and then poo. Those particles – the marine snow – sink to the ocean floor. That keeps the carbon locked in and reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, one of the drivers of human-induced climate change.
But that carbon pump is still largely a mystery to scientists. And they are deeply concerned the warming of our oceans caused by climate change is disrupting that cycle.
Packed with sensors and instruments in its belly, Boaty turned into a mobile lab to help the scientists.
Cruising at 1.1metres per second and diving thousands of metres, Boaty had more than 20 sensors monitoring biological and chemical conditions like nutrients, oxygen levels, photosynthesis and temperature.
It is all for a major research project called BioCarbon, run by the National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton and Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh.
I spoke to two of the scientists, Dr Stephanie Henson and Dr Mark Moore, when they were at sea in Iceland in June on the project’s first cruise.
Skies were clear and the water glistened, making conditions perfect for dropping instruments hundreds of metres down and hauling up traps filled with sediment or microscopic marine life.
