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September 18, 2014

Intense days to document marine ecosystems

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© OCEANA / Carlos Minguell

 

Today we begin the day quite satisfied after leaving behind a spectacular first part of the campaign. During the past five days we have worked intensively on two productive seamounts that rise from depths greater than 3000-4000 m.

We unveiled part of the secrets hold by the unexplored Atlantic seamounts of Dacia and Triton located at the north of Lanzarote. We discovered magnificent marine life, from sessile organisms like beautiful glass sponges, carnivorous sponges, gorgonians or extreme long-lived animals such as the black corals. There are other, more dynamic, wandering in search of food on the seabed composed of small pieces of dead animals, mainly crustaceans, molluscs and briozoos, as the arrowhead dogfish Deania profundorum, and other strange fish from the  Trachyrincus and Nezumia families.

This is lots of information that will provide data to a better understanding of the magnificent underwater life existing in these enclaves. Now, we set off to the westernmost island of the Canary Islands, El Hierro. After a brief stop in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to pick provisions, we expect intense days to document marine ecosystems and biodiversity that soon will become a new National Park to add to those already existing in our country.