Expedition log by Student Collaborator Comfort Opoku, University of Ghana

I’m a student collaborator from the University of Ghana working with MBARI Scientist Colleen Durkin and the Ocean Margins Initiative. This international research team is studying the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa to better understand the connections between coastal waters and open ocean basins. Like Monterey Bay, upwelling drives blooms of productivity in the Gulf of Guinea. I’ve joined the Chasing Marine Snowstorms expedition to see how MBARI scientists study a different upwelling hotspot so I can bring new skills back to the team in Ghana.

Being in California and experiencing Monterey for the first time has been incredible, but stepping aboard the research vessel David Packard has taken the experience to another level. With my growing interest in zooplankton diversity, size, structure, and carbon export, this experience has given me a new perspective on how life in the water column contributes to the movement of carbon through the ocean.

One of the most memorable lessons has been that ocean science does not follow a nine-to-five schedule. When most people are asleep, the ocean is still working, and I had the opportunity to collect zooplankton samples at midnight. From the coastal waters of Monterey Bay to the wide-open Pacific, each sampling effort has been a reminder that understanding the ocean sometimes means being awake when the world is asleep, looking closely at the smallest organisms to grasp the bigger picture.