Day 7: day and night working groups for zooplankton collection, particulate filtration and oxygen and pH analysis. Already 43 CTD profiles have been completed. We continue our journey towards the south-east of Crete IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche @MIOceanologie @LOMIC_UMR7621 hcmr Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

Day 9: Low phosphate, higher chlorophyll-a, the scenario has changed...

Day 11: Group photo onboard R/V Pourquoi Pas ? IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche @MIOceanologie @LOMIC_UMR7621 hcmr Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

Day 11: CTD and zooplankton net deployments and BGC-Argo float recovering during this day

Day 14: Two BGC-Argo floats collected and two Argo-O2 floats deployed in the Levantine basin during PERLE2 cruise IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche mon océan & moi Antoine Poteau Euro-Argo ERIC Guillaume Maze

Last day: 125 CTD casts done near Crete and the Rhodes gyre ! Arrival to Heraklion planned at 4pm with 30 knots of wind

The PERLE 3 Cruise, the last mission of the Mediterranean PERLE program, will start the 10th march 2020 on the "Pourquoi Pas?" R/V. Stations in Levantine, Ionian and Tyrrhenian regions are planned, performed by an international staff, from French, Italy, Greece and Luxembourg.

Ocean color MODIS image of 3 February reveals weak (although significant) phytoplankton growth in the Levantine. The NAOS BGC-Argo 6902904 (« Erinye », red points), deployed last year from PERLE-1 cruise, is very close to the increasing biomass area. Lov_OMTAB @Bio_Argo_Med

The Aqua #MODIS #ocean_color image of February 19 (processed at Lov_OMTAB IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche) reveals an intense growth of phytoplankton in the PERLE region, south of Rhodes, Mediterranean Sea. The PERLE-3 cruise will sample the region in 3 weeks.

Even with the great upheaval of the virus, the PERLE-3 campaign is confirmed and will start from La Seyne sur Mer next Wednesday. Biomass in the Levantine region is still growing. hcmr Lov_OMTAB IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche @INSU_CNRS @LOMIC_UMR7621 @MIOceanologie

First CTD in the Tyrrhenian Sea for PERLE-3 Cruise. Lov_OMTAB @MIOceanologie @LOMIC_UMR7621 hcmr IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche @INSU_CNRS Université Perpignan

Salinity staircases in the central Tyrrhenian Sea. VT For Ever Lov_OMTAB @MIOceanologie @LOMIC_UMR7621 hcmr IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche @INSU_CNRS

CTD/rosette cast in Tyrrhenian Sea. Lov_OMTAB IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche @INSU_CNRS @MIOceanologie @LOMIC_UMR7621 hcmr (photo credits O. Crispi)

Bgc-Argo NAOS Float WMO6902903, deployed 2 years ago, was recovered in the central Tyrrhenian Sea. It collected 128 profiles of T,S,O2, Chl, NO3 and Irr. The float was still functioning and incredibly clean. Lov_OMTAB @bgc_argo IMEV-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche @MIOceanologie

Due to the consequences of CoronaVirus, the PERLE-3 cruise is stopped. We return to LaSeyne. What a sad conclusion ...

Perle 2 « phytofloats » stations immortalized by a great Movie of #LoicLESter!!

Nice to see the RV L'Atalante making a stop in Villefranche-sur-Mer before starting the 4th Perle cruise. Very nice cup ! Have a nice trip ! !

The PERLE mooring was successfully recovered this morning during the PERLE-4 campaign in the middle of the Levantine Sea. Well done!!