To give you an idea about our work on board, I will briefly share with you what a typical day is like. The alarm clock rings at 6.45 am, the first rays of sun have already appeared. By 7.30 am both the members of Oceana and the kind and varied crew finish our breakfast. It … Read more
…1030, 1040….and a record!! 1050 metres depth, maximum immersion with ROV in Oceana, just before returning and enjoying the city of Beirut… we will be back on Thursday! We will forget a bit about work and think about resting and relaxing for a short period. But today is also a day of change, since we … Read more
To the Oceana team, Participating on board the Sea Patron with the OCEANA team for the biodiversity study of the seabed of the Lebanon is a pleasant and exceptional opportunity. As Lebanese PhD student co-managed between the National Centre for Marine Research (Batroun, Lebanon) and the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis (France) on the topic of … Read more
We’re in Lebanon, just in front of Beirut. We’re working everyday with some excellent views of this lovely city, built on mountains next to the sea. It’s like seeing the hillsides on a big city that never end. Our fascinating work takes us to depths of 1,000 metres. We’re finding very unique underwater life, which … Read more
Participating on board Seapatron with the OCEANA team to study the biodiversity in the seabed of Lebanon is an enjoyable and exceptional experience. As a Lebanese PhD student co-managed by the National Centre for Marine Research (Batroun, Lebanon) and the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis (France) on the topic: “Coastal ecosystems on the Lebanese coast: Evolution, … Read more
My name is Ghazi BITAR, oceanographic studies professor at the Lebanese University. I represent RAC/SPA of the UNEP on board the “Sea Patron” vessel as part of the “Deep Sea Lebanon” project. The main objective of that project is first to study biodiversity and to map deep habitats in particular the canyons on the Lebanese … Read more
Today we’re dedicating the whole day to exploring the Beirut Canyon and we’re starting early. We’ve planned a dive in the deepest area (between 500-600 metres) and another one in a more shallow area (60-120 metres) at the top of the Canyon. But we also want to find what they call here the “shark trench” … Read more
Today was a kind of strange day. For those who have been on-board since the start it’s a day off and, for those like me and Javier Camarena who are new to the expedition, it’s a day spent doing paperwork in the port. Jorge passed the torch to me so I could continue to help … Read more
Today we reach the halfway point of the campaign and with a little analysis of what we have been documenting on a daily basis it is easy to see that from a depth of 200 metres the seabeds are mainly composed of mud. Dozens of submarine canyons descend in parallel to the 225 km of … Read more
We have just reached the end of the first week of the expedition and, watching the weekly video from our on-board artist Kike Talledo, it’s time to pause for a moment and take stock of the week. Of the nearly 200 hours we’ve spent plying the Lebanese Mediterranean, more than 24 have involved underwater recording … 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.
