Home / Blog / West Formentera

August 9, 2014

West Formentera

© OCEANA / Enrique Talledo

 

The weather hasn´t improved today, we are in the immersion point but the waves are rather high. We started preparing the equipment in case the weather becomes benevolent, so we can put the ROV out into the water. It is nine o´clock in the morning and the operation starts. The way to the bottom is a long journey, after almost one hour we are sailing over a small mount in the Southeast of Emile Baudot´s peak.  In our way down we found transparent marine animals of phantasmagoric appearance but very pretty indeed, they are called ctenophores. The wind in the surface becomes stronger, the situation changes in just a few minutes, we cannot put the equipment at risk, so unfortunately after 300 meters of transect we have to abort the dive.

Course 277º, speed 11 knots. We´re heading to other point to try to leave the wind behind and get to do some more work. Impossible. We´re anchoring near Formentera.

Suddenly the weather got better, so we decide to move on and do two more ROV immersions in west Formentera. We want to check the extension of the coralligenous at the west part out of the Site of Community Importance in Ses Salines of Ibiza and Formentera.  We didn´t find any coralligenous nor maërl, but we did find some interesting detrital sandy bottoms with sponges and some sea pens.