Guest blog: A week aboard the Tridens – experiences on the Dutch BTS

Zoals gezegd, tijdens de BTS 2026 was er een onderzoeker uit Duitsland mee, als onderdeel van de internationale uitwisseling van kennis over de survey. Hieronder kun je een gastblog lezen van Alexandra Poell, van het Thünen Institut in Bremerhaven, Duitsland. Het is een selectie uit haar hele terugkoppeling, die ook voor ons als onderzoekers van WMR heel waardevol is.

Alexandra nam een pop mee de de hele week heeft meegekeken. Haar ervaringen zijn te vinden op Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc03ksBjBOA/?stkn=cTRzMTg2cTR5eWsx

As mentioned, during the BTS 2026 a scientist from Germany (Thünen Institut, Bremerhaven) joined the Dutch survey, as part of international knowledge exchange, Alexandra Poell. She wrote a guest blog on her experiences on board Tridens. It is a selection of her full feedback, that is also highly valuable for us as WMR researchers.

Alexandra brought a doll that watched all activities during the survey. the doll's experiences can be followed on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc03ksBjBOA/?stkn=cTRzMTg2cTR5eWsx

Alexandra's experiences

For about a week, I had the opportunity to take part in the Dutch Beam Trawl Survey (BTS) aboard the Dutch research vessel Tridens. My time at sea was very exciting and, at the same time, gave me an interesting insight into how my Dutch colleagues work.

I found the collaboration on board particularly positive. The ship’s crew were extremely friendly and helpful, and provided us scientists with excellent support in our day-to-day work. Working with the Dutch scientists was also very pleasant and straightforward. Despite differences in language and working methods, communication went very smoothly. There were plenty of opportunities to exchange views on methods, experiences and workflows in both countries.

What I found particularly interesting was the direct comparison with the German BTS, in which I regularly take part. Although both surveys pursue the same overarching aim – to gather data on fish stocks and the composition of fish communities in the North Sea – there are nevertheless some differences in how they are carried out.

All in all, the week on the Tridens was a brilliant experience for me. I found the open and friendly collaboration with the crew and the Dutch scientists particularly positive. At the same time, the differences compared to the German BTS were especially interesting to me from a professional point of view.

In any case, I’m taking away many new insights from the week, as well as a few questions that I’m sure I’ll reflect on differently during future surveys. After all, it is precisely the comparison of different working methods that shows that scientific surveys are not just about collecting as much data as possible, but also about constantly considering how to obtain this data as efficiently as possible whilst minimizing disruption.