A unique vantage point to see the sunrise, from #RRSSirDavidAttenborough approaching Rosyth this morning.

View of Cantick Head lighthouse from #RRSSirDavidAttenborough as we approach #ScapaFlow #OrkneyIslands this morning.

On #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials today we finally got round to trial deployments of the box corer, which is designed to scoop up a small area of the seabed sediment surface with minimal disturbance.

The #RRSSirDavidAttenborough in Djúpini Sound, near Fuglafjørður, Eysturoy, #FaroeIslands today, viewed from the ship's survey launch 'Erebus'.

View through my cabin port hole on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough this morning. #FaroeIslands

To confirm the successful three-barrel piston core we recovered two days ago on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials wasn't a fluke we tried again yesterday at a different site in slightly shallower water (1415 compared to 1660 m). The core length recovered was very similar.

By today on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials we had built up enough confidence to go for the big one - a piston core with 3 barrels. Once again, it worked well.
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Today on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials we switched from gravity coring to piston coring, with 12 m barrel length. This is a more complicated operation involving use of two auxiliary winches in addition to the main coring winch, but the trial went well.

The view from the #RRSSirDavidAttenborough this evening. We've had more then 24 hours of these conditions now.

Getting more ambitious now on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials, today we deployed the gravity corer with 12 m barrel length, in 1740 m water depth.

Anyone for mass transport deposits? The TOpographic PArametric Sonar (TOPAS) PS 18 system on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough images sedimentary layers in the uppermost few tens of metres below the sea bed. Last night we collected an amazing profile along the Faroe-Shetland Channel.

Progressed to deploying the gravity corer a couple of times with a 6 m-long barrel today on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials, in much better weather than yesterday.

More short gravity cores today on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials, before we move on to trying anything more ambitious. Also the strange experience, for those of us used to working in more polar waters, of torrential rain on deck.

Started activities on #RRSSirDavidAttenborough coring trials today with a multicorer deployment. This item of equipment has been used before so we had high confidence that it would work well, and it did.
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Joined the #RRSSirDavidAttenborough today in Stornoway for sediment coring trials. We we treated to this great view of the ship on our approach to Stornoway.

It was a pleasure to visit the #RRSSirDavidAttenborough in Harwich today to check on how a particular item of scientific equipment has been performing. The ship returned recently from her second #Antarctic voyage.

RT @BAS_News
Over the past week @griffiths_huw & @morroghmax, the crew and #SDAScience team have been testing the new deep sea research capabilities of the #RRSSirDavidAttenborough in one of the deepest and least explored parts of #Antarctica, the Hesperides Deep! 🧵(1/4)

RT @BAS_News
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science from the science team on the #RRSSirDavidAttenborough in Antarctica! The amazing @S_Ocean_sof & @KRHendry lead a team in which women are the majority.
#WomenInPolarScience
#WomenInScience #SDAScience

RT @BAS_News
The Drake Passage, the body of water between South America and #Antarctica, has a fearsome reputation. Today the #RRSSirDavidAttenborough is experiencing some of the power of the Southern Ocean! #SDAScience

Eeek! First SDA CTD!
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RT @milo_bischof
Much excitement on board the #RRSSirDavidAttenborough this morning as the first test CTD goes into the water. This will allow us to test our equipment and sampling protocols before starting with the science later today. #SDAScience @BAS_News https://t.co/4lSmKGAM6E
https://twitter.com/milo_bischof/status/1620777253742460929