Epilogue

All good stories must come to an end. So on Saturday morning, 6.30am, we picked up the pilot in the Solent, and slowly sailed along Southampton Water until we docked outside the National Oceanography Centre. By 08:30 the ship was tied up alongside, and the expedition was officially over.

Demobilisation started immediately, and in no time boxes, sampling equipment, containers and deep-sea vehicles were lifted onto the quayside. Suddenly our home for 5 weeks changed beyond recognition, and we realised the expedition was now really finished. Time to go home!

We all said our goodbyes, already making arrangements to see each other again in the near future. Looking forward to exchanging science results, catching up on new projects, and bringing back happy memories from our 5 weeks at sea.

The end of the expedition does not mean the end of this blog or Twitter feed, though. As we develop the research and the first results start coming in, we plan to keep you updated with what we’ve learnt about Whittard Canyon, about mapping complex deep-sea environments and about submarine canyons in general. So keep watching this space, we’ll be back soon!