After completing the SWOT-grid, R/V Bilim-2 conducted the rest of the sampling stations in Marmara Sea, and moved on to the Black Sea.
![](https://www.swot-adac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MarmaraSea_3-1140x855.jpeg)
The SWOT fast sampling track also passes through south-western Black Sea, a dynamic area due to complex topography and injection of Mediterranean (through Bosphorus Strait) waters. Satellite SST and Chl-a images were investigated prior to the cruise, which showed meandering of the boundary current (i.e., Rim Current), and associated eddies and filaments in the area. SWOT sampling grid consisted of ~5km apart (Total of 40) CTD stations, just north of a well-known marine canyon (Sakarya canyon). The grid was put on the approximated seasonal path of the boundary current, following merged altimetry maps (Figure 2).
![](https://www.swot-adac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MarmaraSea_4-1140x559.png)
Black Sea, notorious for its rough conditions was in its top form during the cruise. Black Sea SWOT stations were completed in choppy conditions, and completed between 1 June 2023 14:55 – 2 June 15:50 GMT. Upon completing the SWOT stations, weather conditions worsened and R/V Bilim-2 returned to the harbor, where it stayed for ~3 days. After the storm, R/V Bilim-2 continued eastward to conduct sampling in the eastern Black Sea, for the BRIDGE-BS project (https://bridgeblacksea.org/ ).
Satellite SST and Chl-a images (Figure 3) confirm fine-scale gradients, which correspond to the outer periphery of an anticyclonic eddy, often referred to as the “Sakarya Eddy” (named after the canyon).
In-situ data processing is still on-going.
![](https://www.swot-adac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MarmaraSea_5.png)