Robin's Bloggin's

It's a little overcast today, but I still delight hugely in the great view from my desk at work.  As an oceanographer, it's a great inspiration to be able to look at salty water whilst sitting working at my desk, though often a distraction too. Today the Queen Mary 2 is in town, taking onboard a new cargo of rich, overweight passengers for a glamorous spin across the ocean.

Old friends, old friends..... I’ve spent the past two days at the Oceanology conference and exhibition at the Excel Centre in London’s Docklands. Oceanology is a biennial gathering of the clans. I’ve attended pretty much all of them since 1984. In those days, it was held in Brighton, and was incredibly amateur and rustic in comparison with this week’s corporate glitz.  It’s a chance for marine sector companies, large and small, to parade their wares, and also a chance to catch up with many old friends, acquaintances, adversaries etc., etc.  Back in 1984, I was starry eyed and full of excitement about this wonderful industry that I somehow found myself working in (how that happened is another story!). These days, I’m a little more wizened and worldly wise, but still have some sense of awe about the technologies associated with working in the world’s oceans, and a strong sense of common interest with my fellow applied oceanographers. How is it that I haven’t been fou...

Last night I had the privilege of giving a talk to the Society of Underwater Technology in London. The grand and rather pompous title was ‘Metocean: The Challenges and Opportunities of Big Data’. It was fun and enjoyable, but only about twenty people turned up, so quite a low-key affair in the end.  There was a beautiful clear sky and a fine view of London by night as I walked back across the bridge to Waterloo station. The 21:20 train home was packed to the gunwales. The joys of travel!!