New Collaboration Provides One Port of Call for Plankton Collection and Analysis

Chelsea Technologies Group Ltd (CTG) (UK) and the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) have teamed up to offer coastal and ocean monitoring authorities worldwide, a complete equipment and service provider for ship of opportunity (SOOP) based plankton sampling systems and training in plankton analysis and taxonomy.
SAHFOS, part of the Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership, UK has been operating the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey for over 70 years. The data and subsequent research enables scientists
to assess the health of the oceans and present information to policy makers and governments.
The success of this survey can be attributed to the skills and expertise of the staff, ranging from practical knowledge of towing CPRs on commercial vessels, through to identifying taxa from the collected
samples and data management.
Chelsea Technologies Group Ltd has been supplying SeaSoar, AquaShuttle and Nu-Shuttle systems for over 25 years. These systems have been fitted with a wide range of instrumentation and tools including the CTG Autonomous Plankton Sampler, a plankton sampler based on the mechanism used within the SAHFOS CPR, updated with an electric motor and indexed gauze advance. For fixed depth of tow applications, CTG has also supplied CPR bodies fitted with an Autonomous Plankton Sampler. These CPR bodies can also be fitted with a CTG MiniPack CTD-F.
Whether coastal and ocean surveyors are looking for plankton sampling on simple instrumented towed platforms for SOOP deployments, undulating platforms with comprehensive sensor arrays (such as the Mariner Nu-Shuttle developed for the Large Marine Ecosystem programme), or require
plankton sampling systems to be fitted to onboard flow-through systems (such a FerryBox type systems), they can now obtain equipment, advice and training through the Chelsea Technologies Group.