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August 16, 2013

Third day on the escarpment: setting a new record at – 1000 meters.

BY: Silvia García

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© OCEANA / Carlos Minguell

 

We spent the night doing bathymetry in the first section of escarpment (NE) to get it ready for the ROV dives today. On the first immersions of the day (the fifth so far in the escarpment), SE of Cabrera, the ROV went to its deepest point so far in any of our expeditions,  -1000 meters. We found a muddy hillside and rocky walls as we expected, and we were fortunate to document a deep-sea shark, a gulper (Centrophorus granulosus).

We ate early and immersed the ROV for the second time on the edge of the platform, where the bottom is sandy, close to our first drop. We filmed a great field of crinoids, an essential habitat for fish, which should absolutely be protected. For our third and final immersion of the day, we moved three miles south to the deep and whitish hills of the escarpment.

We spotted another medium-sized giant devil ray (Mobula mobular) at noon, and another again in the evening, on our way to the area that will explore tomorrow, just 22 miles from here.