RRS Discovery Cruise D376: Swansea to Southampton FASTNEt Cruise to the Celtic Sea Shelf Edge 11th June to 1st July 2012

D376 was the first of two cruises under the NERC-funded Consortium grant
FASTNEt (Fluxes A\wcross the Sloping Topography of the North East
Atlantic). Sailing 11:00 BST on Monday 11th June 2012 from Swansea dry
dock, D376 was a 19 day cruise to the Celtic Sea shelf edge, retuning to
Southampton at 09:00 on Monday 2nd July 2012.
The scientific aims for D376 were three-fold: 1) A process study of the internal
tide and its contribution to cross shelf exchange and vertical mixing, 2) An
investigation of on-shelf intrusions of high-salinity water of oceanic origin, 3)
deployment of long term platforms (Drifters and Gliders) for an investigation of
the state of exchange at the shelf edge during the transition from summerstratified
to winter well-mixed conditions.
A series of summer storms tracked across the study area during the cruise.
Despite this only about 48 hours were lost, and the cruise objectives were
largely accomplished. Overall the cruise was a very good success.