Students on the University of Malta’s M.Sc. in Applied Oceanography recently monitored the discharge of water at Ħofra ż-Żgħira bay used to cool down Delimara power station, as well as the waters at the adjacent Ħofra l-Kbira as a control site.
The students spent a week living together in a ‘boot camp’ close to the area being surveyed where they participated in a ‘hands-on’ experience of collecting scientific data in the marine environment, participating in group projects and conducting individual research.
During the week, the students went on several boat trips to deploy instruments in the waters of the area, such as to measure conductivity, temperature and depth, satellite tracking coastal drifters, a chlorophyll fluorimeter, a Niskin bottle, an underwater camera incorporated in a towed torpedo, a Secchi disk and an onboard meteo-station.
Benthic sediment samples were also collected during scuba diving surveys by means of hand-held corers. The samples were collected at different distances from the thermal outfall and subsequently assessed for their grain-size parameters.
A year ago, underwater temperature loggers and a sea current meter had been deployed at a depth of 40 metres about half a nautical mile off the coast at Ħofra ż-Żgħira. During the camp the students were able to analyse a year’s worth of data gathered by these instruments regarding the hydrodynamic parameters and salinity of the water in the area.
The camp was organised by the Physical Oceanography Research Group at the Faculty of Science’s Department of Geosciences.
The full-time M.Sc. course is spread over three semesters and is offered annually.
Lectures are delivered by local and international staff, including high-profile experts in operational oceanography.
For more information visit the website below.
www.um.edu.mt/science/physicaloceanography/msc