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July 1, 2007

East of Cabrera

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We continue our work east of Cabrera. Again, we find some extensions of Laminaria rodriguezii, although less dense. We also find coralline and, at last, the gorgonians. There are not many and, if we are not mistaken, they are Paramuricea macrospina. Also, we find a few black corals that look like Antipathes sp. They are very small and not very dense.

A little further ahead we find maërl in very good condition. Atop the maërl there are many soft red algae, ascidians, sponges, hydrozoans, etc. Unfortunately during this dive, like all the rest, we also find the marks left by trawlers and some fishing tackle caught on the rocks.

Intermittently, we see some rocks with coralline and many fish, mainly swallowtail seaperch (Anthias anthias), mullets (Mullus surmuletus), moray eels (Muraena helena), scorpionfish (Scorpaena scrofa), lobsters (Palinurus elephas), etc. The shapes formed by the Mesophyllum plates are especially interesting. Most of the rocks are full of interesting cavities.

A yellow-legged gull has been following us the whole day taking us for a fishing boat and waiting to eat our discards. Poor bird, after a few hours the gull realized it wasn’t going to get any food from us and left.

Our bellies are full, though, so we continue sailing. The truth is we’re all going to gain some weight thanks to Patricia, the cook. Later that afternoon, we lift the ROV onboard and set sail towards Palma. During part of the crossing, we hoist the mainsail and the genoa, which makes for pleasant sailing.