The Flysch in the crate

The artwork by Elena Perez is amazing! The Flysch was launched today

April 8, 2021

The Flysch is launched and we hope it will never find its namesake!

At 1425 UTC (coordinated Universal Time) on April 8th, 2021, the eighth float of the newly NSF funded GO-BGC Array program was launched over the side after CTD Station #66. Huge thanks to the support of the US-GOSHIP program and the researchers onboard the A20 Expedition. This is the last float for leg A20 but we have four more floats scheduled for launch on the upcoming A22 expedition so stay tuned!

The Flysch (WMO #5906434) was named by Dr. Isabelle Therriault at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna, BC Canada. The reasoning for the name:

“A flysch is a deep-marine sedimentary facies. As I am currently teaching university-level oceanography and sedimentology & stratigraphy courses, flysch rocks link the 2 subjects quite nicely. I’ve also been extremely impressed while visiting the world-class exposure in Zumaia, Basque Country.”

Elizabeth Ricci was the shipboard technician in charge of this launch and the float decorations are from Elena Perez!

The Flysch being decorated

The Flysch being decorated by Elena Perez – who is an amazing artist. Photo by Andreas Thurnherr

The Flysch floating away after launch

The Flysch floating away after launch while some of the science and ship crew watch. Photo by Andreas Thurnerr