Home / Blog / Cagafrecho, Pta. La Tiñosa. SE Lanzarote. Monday, August 24, 2009

August 24, 2009

Cagafrecho, Pta. La Tiñosa. SE Lanzarote. Monday, August 24, 2009

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©OCEANA/ Carlos Minguell

 

We reached Lanzarote first thing in the morning. To be able to work with the ROV, we scouted for a spot sheltered from the wind, to the SE of the island. We focused our attention on sampling the areas surrounding Punta la Tiñosa where there is a proposal for an LIC (Lugar de Importancia Comunitaria, or Place of Community Importance in English. This was an area proposed to be protected and included within the European framework in the Natura 2000 network.)

This area, located between Punta Gaviota and the port of el Carmen is known for having underwater caves in the coastal area. We submerged the ROV at depths of 60-80 m and 220-370 m with the idea in mind of learning about and documenting the sea bottom farther away from the cost as a continuation of the LIC proposal, known as LIG Cagafrecho.

In this area we found black coral (Antipathes furcata, Antipathella wollastoni, Stichophates sp.), white whip coral (Viminella flagellum) and (Alcyonium glomeratum) as well as cnidaria other and sponges that we have not yet been able to identify.

The submersion with divers took place in the same area, specifically in a place known as “The blue hole” where the divers go through a small rocky tunnel at a depth of some 20-27 meters. They also filmed and photographed an area of garden eels (Heteroconger longissimus).