Today the weather was very rough. Strong winds made sea conditions very unfavorable for just about anything we did. Off shore the waves reached three meters making ROV dives impossible. We decided to stay closer to shore and hide behind small rocky islands for calmer conditions. That made acceptable conditions for scuba dives. We got … Read more
After many days at sea it’s nice to be back on land again. Today is Sunday, you think to yourself: “that’s nice, a day of rest…” But no. Instead of a lazy day we decided to go on a trip to see the most famous overhanging rock rising above the beautiful Lynsefjord. The journey involved … Read more
A marine animal must specialise in order to survive at sea, either to feed itself, defend itself from predators, move…for almost everything. Many birds are perfectly adapted to this environment, able to cross or live in the middle of the marine environment without the possibility of resting on something firm. Living conditions are so harsh … Read more
According to Greek mythology, the Chimera was a monstrous hybrid with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a dragon. A “chimera” can also refer to a dream or illusion, a product of the imagination that is hoped or wished for in spite of being almost impossible to … Read more
“I’d like to be – under the sea – in an octopus’s garden – in the shade” – The Beatles, Octopus’s Garden. Today, the ROV and the samples taken in the Norwegian trench uncovered huge numbers of octopi. I am sure that the Beatles must have imagined the Octopus’s garden to be in the North … Read more
Interesting anecdotes from onboard the Neptune (some may seem pretty obvious for experienced Oceana campaigners, but not for me): “There’s always a gym onboard” says our resident seafarer extraordinaire (aka marine scientist, Cecilie). Well she’s right this time and ours is located on the lower deck, basically under water level (brrr). But hold on a … Read more
Here, you watch a guy throw a Grab at the water, and bring up Mud. Down you can see how 4 Teletubbies wash up that mud, pick up the itty-bitty pieces that stay through the mesh and put them carefully in Little labeled plastic containers. Middle-level, you notice a Smart guy (must be a scientist) … Read more
We are in the middle of the North Sea, where the waters of five countries –the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Denmark and Norway– meet. The day began with an unpredictable sea, that is, a sea that’s on the verge of not letting us work. We’ve done some dredging as we wait for conditions to improve … Read more
Where the sky ends, the ocean begins. This is where we are. We arrived at the Devil’s Hole yesterday in calm weather, but we woke up this morning with the sky wrapped in low grey clouds. There is nothing to break the horizon – no ships, no platforms, no land. It seems like we are … Read more
Now the first two expedition weeks have passed, I’d like to give a summary of how productive this North Sea campaign has been so far. We have now visited 2 out of 4 countries and documented 5 of our selected areas. In those areas, we have performed 22 ROV dives, 6 Scuba dives, 18 CDTs … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
