Led by the University of Gdansk, a group of students embarked on the SEA-EU research campaign aboard the university’s research vessel, R/V Oceanograf. As they return to Gdansk, these students share their unforgettable experiences and insights gained from the expedition. We thank the University of Gdansk and specially Marcel Jakubowski, for the interviews and material.
Julia Więcławska
I think the most memorable thing for me were the jellyfish, which are the subject of my research. I’ve seen both Cyanea capillata and Aurelia aurita. They are definitely much more impressive in real life and there were a lot of them, so I was really happy with my observations. We learnt a lot about how to use the research equipment on the ship. I’m really grateful to our research team leader Ryszard Kuczyński, with him on board we knew that it’s okey to make mistakes, because that’s how you learn new things. I would love to go on another cruise like this, maybe to Hawaii, because the supervisor for my bachelor’s thesis, Maciej Mańko, PhD, brought back a lot of interesting zooplankton samples from there.
Also, I thought you only get seasick once, when you get on the ship, not every time there is a big wave!
Karolina Banasiak
I was surprised to see how diverse the zooplankton were in the sea . Every time we put out a net it was full of life. It’s really different to see these organisms alive. In our classes we usually look at dead ones. Here they were alive, which was amazing, but unfortunately it also meant that we had to sacrifice them to create samples. The most intriguing creatures I’ve seen on this trip were the comb jellies (Ctenophora). It was really fun to see these combs move. I would love to go on another cruise like this, maybe to Antarctica…
Emilia Neuman
I really enjoyed the team-building aspect of the sampling process. It’s a lot of work, so you have to make sure everyone does their part. There was a big difference between our teamwork on the first and second day. Once we got the hang of it, we completed our tasks twice as fast. Now I know that it’s better to assign roles from the start, than to let everyone do everything at once.
