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August 25, 2016

Grab in the bottom

BY: Frank de Graaf

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This week we’ve had a quiet sea and excellent weather. Through the ROV we saw miles of sea beds; sandy ones with stream ripples, or clay ones with a bubbly texture, or with pits and tiny hills with a crater on the top, like small volcanoes: worm holes?  In general just a few living creatures seen, most are hidden. We saw some funny flat fish, clumsy hermit crabs and a langoustine peeping from his grotto.

We frequently use The Van Veen grab, but today there was some consternation: the grab did not come up and remained stuck in 50 m-deep water in the Noordhoren-Region.

Many practical ideas were exchanged and finally a skilled salvation was made by employing the hand of the ROV to bring up the line with a half-open steel eye and caught the dredge to haul it up. Everyone burst into applause when this indispensable piece returned on deck.