Month: June 2010

Today was one of the ROV’s worst days in history. Of four dives in different areas around Seco de los Olivos seamount, only one went smoothly and we were able to film the seabeds extensively. During the other dives, either the ROV was constantly getting tangled in remnants of fishing gear, or we had to … Read more

After a day in port for repairs, identification work, long talks and the opportunity for personal hygiene, we set sail on the Oceana Ranger. The waves make an appearance and there’s a breeze that, if we were in winter, would be very pleasant. The weather makes the ROV uncooperative and the work is complicated. The … Read more

Although the wind continues to blow and seas are rough, the weather is better than yesterday. The forecast is good. However, it takes us longer to get to the seamount and submerge the ROV. We did three dives today, including the spot where we took samples the day before yesterday. It’s difficult to manoeuvre the … Read more

The Ranger stayed in port today because the wind has picked up and the ROV can’t be used when seas are rough. We took advantage and had the winch checked out because yesterday the cable was running very slow, both up and down.  After a visit from a couple of technicians who dismounted and checked … Read more

Today we started studying the deep seabeds of Seco de los Olivos, a seamount in the Alboran Sea, 12nm off the Almeria coast. Oceana will study this seamount for the next 4 years in order to describe its habitats and species as part of the Indemares project, an EU LIFE+ project in which 10 important … Read more

The ROV technicians arrived early this morning. We’ve loaded and prepared both the robot and its material, including a new high definition camera that will allow us to improve the quality of the images we take. We spent the whole day loading and placing this equipment. This year, like others, the ship’s crew is made … Read more

After leaving Cape Nao behind, in Valencia, we no longer feel the North wind that was with us since we set sail from Sagunto. The crossing to Almeria has been very quiet, too quiet. We’ve barely seen any cetaceans, although we’ve seen plenty of trawlers and deployed nets, especially abundant in the waters of Valencia … Read more

After two months of preparations, the Oceana Ranger, a 21.5-metre catamaran, is ready to begin the campaign. This year, we’ll concentrate on some of the most important seamounts in the Mediterranean, marine biodiversity “hotspots” in this sea that, up to now, have barely been studied. We set sail from the port of Sagunto with a … Read more

The Oceana Ranger is setting sail just in a few days to start the 2010 Expedition. The logistics team is working really hard already to have everything all-set by June 15. The Operations Director must be going crazy (even a bit more) to get everything done on time. The most important thing here is to check … Read more