It's been a hectic few days at Dive in Style HQ as the Original Travel team frantically try to ensure that all of our clients stranded abroad are getting the assistance they need.

As the skies clear and the sound of planes overhead returns (let's just hope neighbouring Icelandic volcano Katla doesn't decide to blow any time soon), we got to wondering what the effect of the eruption might be on the world's oceans.

Thankfully, early signs seem to show that this eruption will have few negative long-term effects on the earth's environment above or below the waves according to scientists.

So what does happen when the ash from the eruption lands on the ocean? You might think it would create a floating blanket of poison smothering the life below. In fact, according to many scientific studies, volcanic ash is good for the oceans. A 2001 report which looked at the effects of an earlier Icelandic eruption shows that the ash could act like an ocean fertilizer, feeding the waters' most basic organisms. There's a lot of science behind this that we, frankly, don't understand. Let's just say that the ash contains concentrated nutrients that feed phytoplankton, the basis of the underwater food chain. There is a chance that the present eruption has spewed out chemicals that may be harmful, but we are going to look on the bright side for now in the hope of a silver lining.