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April 24, 2012

The first day of fieldwork

BY: Christina Abel

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© OCEANA / Carlos Minguell

 

Christina Abel - Marine scientistToday was our first day of fieldwork of the 2012 expedition. Throughout the day we managed to conduct four surveys with the (ROV) in the area east of the Danish island of Anholt in Kattegat. We filmed lots of interesting habitats and communities. One of the more interesting organisms we met at 35 meters depth was the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, which is a target species for fishermen in Kattegat. We filmed the orange lobster while it was sitting in one of its characteristic holes, which they make in the mud. Another interesting thing we came across was an area with a beautiful creature called phosphorescent sea pen. This sea pen emits flashes of light, and it almost looks like a flower, as it a “stem” and has a strong red color (see picture).

Starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, crabs, krill, dead men’s fingers, brachiopods, and fish species, such as haddock, cod, blue whiting, flounder and greater weever, were also among the organisms that we filmed with the ROV.

Altogether we were happy with our first working day at sea.