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September 16, 2014

Working on deck

BY: Oceana Web

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© OCEANA / Carlos Minguell

 

Tonight we finally were hit by the trail of the storm so the sea was quite rough. We tried to make bathymetry at night to get an idea of where to sample the next day, but heavy swells reaching up to two meters and 15-knot winds, made it hard to use the ROV, so we replaced it with Van Veen grab benthic studies.

After several failed attempts, we finally found that the sediment that forms the mountain Dacia is mainly composed by bryozoans, foraminifera and mollusks. We got some interesting sampling such as rhodoliths, different echinoderms (brittle stars, sea urchins), etc., which will be subsequently analyzed in the laboratory, in collaboration with scientists from well-known universities.

During the day, while working on deck, we spotted some seabirds such as Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), Madeiran storm petrel (Oceanodroma castro) and the rare Bulwer’s petrel (Bulweria bulwerii) as well as a minke whale (Balaneoptera acutorostrata). Tonight we sailed back to the Triton Mountains to finish the sampling in this area.