Beaked whales!

Finally sailing! We couldn’t leave the harbour yesterday evening because there was a very strong wind, and we had to wait until early morning. Once the wind calmed down, we started sailing towards the west of Alboran Island. Heading towards Alboran Island we passed through the Chella Bank. We were looking for dolphins, which are … Read more

Mapping of different benthic habitat components in the Basque continental shelf (NE Bay of Biscay) and its application within the MSFD

Abstract To properly apply European directives (mainly Habitat and Marine Strategy) Member States and the European Commission require information about the marine environment, of which seabed habitats are an integral part. Within this context, in 2005, a seafloor mapping programme, funded by the Basque government, commenced with the aim of seafloor characterisation and benthic habitat … Read more

Living in the deep sea

Our lack of knowledge about the deep seas is immense, almost as great as the surface area of these regions. To begin to understand this other world and its mysteries, we must take certain facts into consideration: The average depth of the oceans is about 3,800 metres (almost 12 times the height of the Eiffel … Read more

Vulnerable habitats and species in the deep-sea Emile Baudot escarpment (South Balearic Islands) surveyed by ROV

Abstract Geological features like seamounts and canyons are known to be potential biodiversity hotspots due to the variety of bathymetric ranges, substrata, habitats and species that they can host. Escarpments share these characteristics and new findings show they can be considered as important biological hotspots. Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives between 100 and 1000 m … Read more

Marine litter in the upper São Vicente submarine canyon (SW Portugal): Abundance, distribution, composition and fauna interactions

Abstract Marine litter has become a worldwide environmental problem, tainting all ocean habitats. The abundance, distribution and composition of litter and its interactions with fauna were evaluated in the upper S. Vicente canyon using video images from 3 remote operated vehicle exploratory dives. Litter was present in all dives and the abundance was as high … Read more

Cold-water coral and hydroids as Essential Fish Habitat for Lappanella fasciata and Benthocometes robustus

Abstract Fish-habitat association is of paramount importance in ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. “Essential Fish Habitats” (EFH) include areas that are either spawning and nursery grounds, provide specific feeding resources, shelter from predators and form part of a mitigation route (Benaka, 1999). The term was incited by the illegal requirement in the US to consider … Read more

Sponge grounds as key marine habitats: A synthetic review of types, structure, functional roles, and conservation concerns

Abstract This chapter reviews the major known monospecific and multispecific sponge aggregations in the world’s oceans. They are shown to occur from the intertidal to abyssal depths, in tropical, temperate, and high latitudes and sometimes to create spectacular formations, such as glass sponge reefs, lithistid reef-like fields, and carnivorous sponge grounds. Sponge aggregations are recognized … Read more

Biotope characterisation and compiled geographical distribution of the deep-water oyster Neopycnodonte zibrowii in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea

Abstract We collected and compared 261 geographical Neopycnodonte zibrowii records, retrieved from cruises, non-shipbased submersible expeditions and terrestrial field trips, carried out between June 1882 and January 2016. Hosted in a database, records further contain valuable site-specific metadata, including standardised describers for the variety of observed deep-sea oyster biotopes.