Campaign: Habitat Protection
Fish, birds and gorgonian gardens
We spent the night in Porto Colom, surrounded by fishing boats, long liners and bottom trawlers. The atmosphere was a bit strange, as fishermen were staring at our t-shirts with the Oceana logo, and seemed to know us. Today, a reporter is on board with us from the TV show, Thalassa. We begin to head … Read more
Oceana launches an expedition to Cabrera and the Balearic seamounts
This morning, Oceana launched an expedition to document three seamounts that lie between the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera, as well as the Fort d’en Moreu which is a coralligenous reef to the East of the Cabrera archipelago; all of which belong to the Balearic Islands. The international marine conservation organization will capture footage … Read more
Signs of trawling in a habitat that should be protected
We have finished research on the planned points of the expedition, but because the weather is so good, we are extending the area to be surveyed in order to check and know better the extent to which the protected area should be expanded. We are moving forward with work in the Fort d’en Moreu area, … Read more
A problem with the camera
The first light of day passes through the porthole; the sea is calm and quiet. Several seabirds are welcoming the day. We are already in the next diving station. The first time we put the ROV in the water we had a problem with the high definition camera, and had to abort the immersion. After … Read more
Nine ROV dives for the first day
After ten years of expeditions, once again another Oceana campaign kicks off. This time, the goal is to document the seamounts in the Mallorca Channel through video and bionomic mapping. It is now eight o’clock sharp, and the Cathedral of Palma is disappearing from view, and the bow of the ship is pointing towards the Cabrera … Read more
Unexpected records of ‘deep-sea’ carnivorous sponges Asbestopluma hypogea in the shallow NE Atlantic shed light on new conservation issues
Marine cave communities have been a continued source of ecological surprises, among other things because of their close ecological and evolutionary ties with the deep sea. The discovery of cladorhizid sponges, the deepest occurring poriferan family, in shallow Mediterranean caves in the 1990s was one such surprise, leading to the generally accepted hypothesis that the … Read more
