Multidisciplinary teaching cruise MNF-bioc-301 Plankton along the Baltic Sea salinity gradient, Cruise No. AL618, August 18th – August 30th 2024, Kiel (Germany) – Kiel (Germany), MNF-bioc-301

The multidisciplinary teaching cruise AL618 was part of the curriculum of the master “Biological Oceanography” at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research. During this mandatory part of the MNF-bioc-301 module the students were able to gain hands-on experience of the scientific operation on-board a modern multidisciplinary research vessel. Methods in physical, biological and chemical oceanography were taught based on biodiversity changes in several functional plankton groups along the Baltic Sea salinity gradient as a main subject. The students performed tasks such as deploying state-of-the-art measuring and sampling gear, data and sample collection as well as first on-board analyses and curation of data and samples for later use. The on-board analyses included taxonomic identification, measurements and counts of plankton organisms, and chlorophyll A concentrations and recording of CTD profiles. Further samples were collected for later analyses during other practical courses in the master curriculum such as seawater samples for eDNA and viral plankton analyses. The work with the crew onboard ALKOR was outstanding. (Alkor-Berichte AL618)