July 23, 2008

In the morning, we returned to the canyon facing the Orio estuary to document the seabed with the help of ROV. Before getting there, 10.5 nautical miles from the coast and in waters with a temperature of 21ºC, we spotted a Portuguese man o’war. The substrate all along the canyon was muddy and this is … Read more

Canyons facing the Basque country

At last, the ROV is up and running and we plan on working all day with it off two seamounts, one in front of Ondarroa and the other facing the Orio estuary. We pass by two trawlers, from Gijon and Vigo, on our way to the canyons, working in waters 7 and 10 miles from … Read more

July 21, 2008

This morning, we departed from Zumaia to dive off the coast between the ports of Mutriku and Ondarroa. We left at 9 a.m., a bit later than usual, because we had to change crews. Juan Sigler (support diver) and Sergio Gosálvez (underwater photographer) have left, and Jorge Candán and Pilar Barros are once again aboard … Read more

July 20, 2008

We left early to reach the canyons before the wind picked up so we could work comfortably, without the boat moving too much. We reached the Potera Arrechu seamount and surveyed the area but did not find any significant changes in depth. A group of 15 common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) appeared directly over the seamount … Read more

Urdaibai , July 19

Today, we will spend the day diving around Urdaibai while the ROV technicians install and test the equipment. The natural areas from Mundaka to Gernika that comprise the Oka River, which extends to the Urdaibai marshes, were declared a Biosphere Reserve. Interestingly enough, we are finding an abundance of fish precisely in the areas where … Read more

Capes Matxitxako and Ogoño

We departed from port early in the morning in order to take advantage of the day and document the area during three dives with the divers. The first dive was carried out off Cape Matxitxaco, an area surrounded by small fishing boats. The seabed was a continuation of the cape, a rocky arm with N-NW … Read more

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe protected biotope

We spent the day working on the Gaztelugatxe protected biotope, the only marine protected area in the Basque Country, apart from the Mundaka estuary that is within the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. We carried out two dives off the two islands within the protected area, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and Aketze. On the first island, there … Read more

Press conference in Bilbao

Today was a very special day. We didn’t go sailing, but instead, we’ve spent the morning in port, in Getxo, doing some cleaning and maintenance work. In the afternoon, we went up the Bilbao estuary to the maritime museum, escorted by Unai Basurko and his regatta team. Unai Basurko is a Basque competitive yachtsman, specialised … Read more

The Basque Country

We depart early from Getxo to carry out two dives with the divers, one north of the Villano Islote and another off the Culebra seamount, located on the Meñacoz coast. We have been very lucky with the weather, so far. Sunny days and slight winds have allowed us to work comfortably. On the Villano Islote, … Read more

Callejos de Bamboa seamount ans Saltacaballos point

Finally, the ROV technicians couldn’t solve the problem and decided the best option was to take it to Barcelona, because it would be easier to solve technical problems there. Joan and Manuel left with the ROV and we continued our work with the divers in shallow waters. We started the day with a dive off … Read more