Although we’ve passed the half-way stage of this expedition, we still have the same excitement and energy as we did on the first day. Today has been a hot day with the sun shining and the sea rather choppy. But nothing can stop the Ranger from carrying marching on with this exciting expedition. Today we … Read more
The good thing about there being so many of us on-board here is that everyone is a specialist in something, so you get the chance to learn a great deal of things: like sailing, controlling the ROV, mechanics, marine biology, photography, diving and cooking. On-board the Ranger you never stop learning!
You get a totally different feeling when you start work on a day like today – opening the Ranger door to see the sea sparkling in front of you and a horizon stretching far and wide, and when you feel the warm early-morning sun on you after a serene and silent night’s sleep under a … Read more
Today has been full of sightings, both on the sea surface and deep down. We’re in an area far from the coast, studying rocky sea beds that go from 300 to 700 metres deep. We’re looking for corals and other species that live in these reefs and, if truth be told, we’re having a lot … Read more
The weeks are going by and each day we are experiencing something new or learning something new, making this expedition a very rewarding experience indeed. We’ve managed to swim at the same pace as jellyfish, see the way rays “fly” and witness the hatching of cuttlefish eggs. I reassure myself again that these waters, at … Read more
The hours with the ROV on-deck are long so you have to find something to do while still keeping an eye on important things such as carabiners, ballasts and the controls! On this year’s expedition, most of us are fitness mad, which means that when we have some spare time, the Ranger looks more like … Read more
Today, we continued to sample an anchoring spot, to the east of Malta, an area common with big vessels. Despite the big impacts the area suffers from such vessels, the marine environment is sneaking through bringing with it beautiful bundles of calcareous algae, green algae, and occasionally, structured mud with a high presence of some … Read more
We are anchored here in Marsaskala. Today we’ll be working on an anchoring spot for cargo ships, just in front of Marsaskala. It’s an area that you can see has been affected by some anchoring and bunkering. However, we still come across interesting spots to film. So much so that yesterday afternoon the ROV filmed … Read more
I say that we’re back sailing again as we’ve been in habour for 2 days, and not because of bad weather. We got a plastic line, the type fishermen use, stuck in the engine. It broke an engine part so we had to head back to the habour and repair it. Whether this kind of … Read more
This morning began with a sense of anticipation, with everyone on board eager to see the broken motor of the Ranger fixed, and get back out to work at sea. Yesterday the captain managed to secure the replacement part we needed (after an adventure to a tiny village on the island of Malta) – but … Read more
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