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October 15, 2016

Sunrise and sunset over Beirut

BY: Pilar Marín

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Today we’re dedicating the whole day to exploring the Beirut Canyon and we’re starting early. We’ve planned a dive in the deepest area (between 500-600 metres) and another one in a more shallow area (60-120 metres) at the top of the Canyon. But we also want to find what they call here the “shark trench” where they say there is a bull shark. As we set off for our destination with the port behind us, a spectacular sunrise over the skyline in Beirut which could easily be the Manhattan of the Mediterranean.

On the first dive we were able to document different species of shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris, Plesionika edwarsii y Plesionika heterocarpus) and some of them were carrying eggs. On the second dive we hoped to find a coral seabed or maerl, but we were surprised to find a wide field of sea pens and lots of starfish next to cuttlefish, octopi and squid.

To end the day, we videoed artisanal boats under the moonlight climbing up the Beirut sky. And by the way, it seems that the radar found the shark trench so we’ll see if it throws up any more surprises over the next few days!