“In a time when you can work on Line P data without actually being to sea, who here has been to Station Papa?” About 2/3 of the hands in ~100 person room go up. “Who’s been since 2000?” 40 hands. “Who went in the 90’s?” 20 hands. “In the 80’s?” 10 hands. ” In the 70’s?” 5 hands. “In the 60’s?” Still, 2 hands go up. “Who’s been in winter?” 15 hands up, a hearty “Thank You!” and a round of applause from the room.
This was the amazing group that I was surrounded by at the two day meeting celebrating 60 years of science on Line P at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, BC the last grey days of November, 2016. In this room sat some of the great forethinking oceanographers of a generation that have tirelessly pushed for continued funding, and collected samples, at what is now the longest continuously monitored station in the entire global ocean. Continue reading A Diamond Jubilee for Line P