This survey was carried out by the Marine Institute and National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) in May 2008 on board the R.V. Celtic Explorer along the Irish Continental Shelf . It was a collaborative multi-disciplinary research effort between the Earth and Ocean Sciences department of NUI, Galway and the Marine Institute. The objectives of the survey were to occupy a set of standard hydrographic transects across the Irish continental shelf to both provide data for climate status reports for ICES and other bodies, as well as to study the bio-geochemistry of Irish shelf waters in relation to plankton ecology and also Carbon cycling (and associated ocean acidification aspects).