Our departure from Grimsby was at 6 a.m. heading for the Humber grounds again. Due to the fact that the current was high we could not get the ROV or the divers in the water so we did a couple of grabs and CTD in some different positions. After the grabs we anchored near a … Read more
It has only been two days on-board but the Brussels lobbyists are slowly getting the hang of it. We are finally starting to develop our seamen’s legs: once we stepped of the ship yesterday evening in Grimsby we felt that our body was still swaying from the boat’s movement. Today, we left early in the morning … Read more
For the first time in many years staff from our policy office in Brussels has joined an Oceana expedition in the North Sea aboard the Neptune. Usually more used to European meetings, political negotiations and the air-conditioned lobbies of the European Parliament, the policy team joined the boat’s crew in Grimsby, UK. At first impression … Read more
Rarely does an expedition run without mishaps or technical failures and our first technical failure happened in the first week. After several successful dives with our CTD – a device capable of measuring water temperature, salinity, pH, depth, oxygen, depth and chlorophyll – it suddenly stopped working. We attempted to get it running again while … Read more
After ten days at-sea, today we arrived at Grimsby harbour. Grimsby, a small town located near the Humber River, will provide us with some dry land and a few parts to repair and maintain our equipment in good shape and carry on with our work. We had spent a few days coordinating our stay in … Read more
In our expeditions we use high-definition cameras that can be used in depths of several hundred metres, a robot that can work at 1,000 metres deep, a CTD than can be used at 7,000 metres deep and lenses, computers, GPS, mobiles and other electronic equipment, so you can see we use a whole array of … Read more
It’s 5 in the morning and dawn is rising in The Humber. Today, like every day, I make myself a coffee and take it up to the Neptune’s stern to enjoy the reflections of the sunrise colours on the North Sea. Today, we’re going to go diving and I can´t wait to see what’s under … Read more
A 50-day expedition, 4 countries, thousands of miles to sail, 20 people on-board; 11 from Oceana and 9 crew. So far, we’ve been on-board 9 days, sailed in the waters of two different countries and navigated 450 miles. Today is our first dive and we’re 70 miles from the coast, at a depth of 20 … Read more
We’re taking samples today in the Norfolk sandbanks and surrounding areas. We’re in area between two zones that are protected zones but lack an efficient management plan, and a passageway that is used by trawlers. It goes without saying that the area has dozens of offshore oil-rigs. The tides are strong. And in these sea … Read more
Today we had the opportunity to look into a different setting than we were previously used to – wreckages! Sunken iron colossi that, without it being their original purpose, ended up as a home to some creatures in the North sea. Scheduling our needs to the currents, we sent our robotic companion to find the … 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.
