We cannot always accomplish waht we plan. This morning, we have bad weather, winds of 30 knots and 2 meters waves. Plans have been cancelled for the last dives to the Ormonde mount, a part of the underwater mountain range Gorringe Ridge.

Despite this, results from this phase of the Ranger's expedition, begun in January 2005 in waters of the Pacific, have been satisfactory. At the Gorringe Ridge carried out 12 dives ( each couple of divers went down 6 times ) with the purpose of documenting marine life and the state of this incredibly remarkable ecosystem, located about 150 miles from the nearest coast. It is beyond remarkable; we are aware that some of underwater scenes we have set eyes on down here have not been seen by human eyes before. We know we are making history. Research on these marine mounts and on mountain ranges around the world are very scarce.

All essential safety measures are taken; there is nothing to be concerned about.

Last night, we had a blues concert at the Ranger, by Danielle, Dana ans Indi. Meanwhile, we sailed twenty miles towards the Gorringe Ridge; to the mount of Ormonde.

This time it is harder for us to find the mountain summit. We find that all the available marine charts are wronhg and that none of the references we had were correct. At last, after modnight, we find the spot: at 32 meters deep in the most elevated area.

Next morning we awoke to a tranquil sea and sky. Soon after the first team of divers went down, those of us left onboard were visited by an ocean sunfish ( Mola mola ) measuring over one and a half meters long.

This was another day spent in the middle of the ocean. Upon awakening on the Ranger, the sea was ever so still. After we spent the night adrift, we had only shifted 4 miles, which, in the opinion of the captain and sailors, is not too much.

Today, the diving team planned to do four dives. They have decided to dive in pairs and separately, in order to better control the situation. Mar was feeling discomfort in one ear, but she is better now. Everything seems to indicate this is going to be a very nice day.

The captain has given me permission to go along with Bibi on the auxiliary boat. As we arrived at the anchor buoy, again we were surrounded by about fifty european storm-petrels. On the surface of the sea, there was garbage, and remains of Blue bottle or Portuguese man-of-war jelly fish, and some type of mollusks. Since this observation, Ricardo Aguilar, Project Manager at Oceana and Juan Pablo Camblor, Zoea Director, have been commenting on this peculiar phenomena, such as the large gathering of Blue bottle or Portuguese man-o during the Ranger campaign in the Azores, or the great congregation of jelly fish in the Mar Menor during the summer months. Ricardo explained that the ocean trophic chain is transforming and that when species at the top levels of the food chain decrease in numbers, invertebrates go through rapid reproductive cycles. Changes in temperature can also influence this process as well sewage water and water treatment substance discharges, etc.

The divers are back, they have gone down from the bottom to the top of Gettysburg. They told us that the surface of the mountain is not uniform, but full of fissures, nooks and irregularities, which provide for a wide variety of habitats for marine life. As for fish, they observed the same species as yesterday ( almaco jack, Mediterranean rainbow wrasse, etc ). They have also filmed a spotted torpedo and found an area with gorgonian ( corals ) of small sizes.

We listened to classicla music at the messroom and Nuño, the captain plays bagpipes on the prow. Meanwhile, we remember all those who have been on the Ranger and made this project possible.

After 24 hours of navigation since we left the port of Lagos and proceeding on southwest direction, we have arrived at Gorringe. The crew prepares an anchor buoy to mark the place, which also serves divers as a guide when they sumerge. Finding an adequate spot to anchor has not been easy. Using the Ranger's sonic instruments, the captain has selected several spots within a 40-50 meter diameter, down to a depth of 30 meters. Bibi, the sailor from Cambados, organizes the auxiliary boat she will use to transport the four divers, the filming gear and a torpedo. The torpedo is a submergible device equipped with an electric motor and a propeller, and it is used by divers to go for long distances underwater, without much effort. At first dive, only a pair of divers will go down, these will be Mar and Dana Harlow. In addition to doing recognizance of the spot, they make sure the torpedo works well and they take a photographic camera along with them.

Gorringe Ridge is a group of underwater mountains of volcanic origin. Great part of their surface is formed by hard substrate where filter-feeding invertebrates ans species associated to algae forests proliferate. As soon as the divers resurface, they tell us of their experience. There is a strong current and the scenery is covered mostly by brown algae ( Zonaria tournefortii ) and Laminaria sp. The most abundant species sighted, were grey triggerfish ( Balistes carolinensis - later changed to Balistes capriscus ), almaco jack ( Seriola rivoliana ), Mediterranean rainbow wrasse ( Coris julis ), swallowtail seaperch ( Anthias anthias ), John Dory ( Zeus faber ) and Mediterranean slipper lobster ( Scyllarides latus ).

These mountains belong to the Economic Exclusive Zone of Portugal, there is a proposal to have this area declared Conservation Special Area ( CSA ) and includa them in Red Natura 2000.

We spent the night adrift on the summits of Gorringe. We will see what tomorrow brings.

We got up at eight o'clock this morning and after a half hour wait for the Channel drawbridge to be open, we were on our way. Afterwards, at the messroom a meeting took place among Ricardo Aguilar, Oceana Director of Research, and the divers who will document our next destination. They are: Dana Harlow, Juan Carlos Calvín, Juan Pablo Camblor and Mar Mas. They discussed details on how dives will be done in the next three days. Although it is always the case that safety measures are followed, this is more so in this case: we must take extreme precautions, because we plan very deep dives ( 30-40 m ), to take place in remote areas, far from land. Every diver will carry a line to hold on to the anchor line and a dive maker to indicate the diver location once dive is completed. A safety protocol has also been established to act with efficiency in the eventuality of a diving accident. There is an oxygen device onboard if an emergendy situation should arise.

En route to Gorringe Ridge we have met with 20 knot prow winds, which kept us from navigating with sails, and are going to delay a little our arrival at the underwater mountain Gettysburg. Until now, only a few birds have come to visit us: a young gannet ( Sula bassana ), a couple of Manx shearwaters ( Puffinus puffinus ) and almost at the end of the day, a great skua ( Catharacta skua ). Tomorrow we hope to find more marine life around the mountains, as they are considered to be truly authentic oasis in the middle of the ocean.

Gorringe ridge is a group of mountains of significant ecological importance. They are located at 150 miles from the Protuguese coast. Settled on marine beds over 3,000 meters deep and two of its peaks ( Gettysburg and Ormonde ) they reach barely 20-30 meters from the surface. Underwater mountains hold great importance for marine ecosystems. Great diversity of species can be found there, including endemic  species that originate changes in marine currents, and many migratory animals make a pause in their journey to feed in the surronding area. We are all excited about the opportunity to dive and document an ecosystem as unknownt as this is.

Marine Birds

• Tuesday, May 3: Tropicbird ( Phaeton lepturus ), Wilson's storm petrel ( Oceanites oceanicus ).
• Sunday, May 15: upon leaving Bermuda, in the mangrove area, we sighted a great blue heron ( Ardea herodias ), Yellow-crowned Night-heron ( Nyctanassa violacea ) and White-tailed or Yellow-billed Tropicbird ( Phaeton lepturus ).

• Thursday, May 26: at around 175 miles from Azores, we sighted Cory's Shearwater ( Calonectris diomededea ) who substituted the black caps. In the Azores, as it was the case with Madeira or the Canaries, the subspecies borealis ( C. diomedea borealis ) can be observed.
• Thursday, June 2: Common Tern ( Sterna hirundo ). A pair lands on the prow of the Ranger. During great part of the crossing, sightings of different species of Petrels was quite frequent, even if identifying the different species did not prove to be easy.

Cetaceans

Wednesday, May 18: Blue Whale ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata ). It is the smallest of whales. This, together with the blow hole, the coloration on the back and dorsal fin-relatively large respects to the size of the animal-helped us to identify the specimen.

• Saturday, May 21: At eight this morning we sighted a group of Atlantic spotted dolphins ( Stenella frontalis ), resurfacing again anout twenty minutes later. We sighted a False Killer Whale ( Pseudorca crassidens ). Also, we saw a whale ( Balaenoptera ) but we were not able to identify the species.
• Sunday, May 22: Atlantic spotted dolphin ( Stenella frontalis ). A group of forty individuals showed up on the starboard wing, and then a group of twelve dolphins moved towards the prow of the ship, where they remained for several minutes. As the sun was going down, we could see a whale leaping out of the water, at a distance of about four miles away. The leaps were accompained by very powerful and explosive breaths. On occasion, it slapped the surface of the water with its caudal fin, and both the fin and the tail area were visible, despite the distance. Their general behavior made us think it was a Humpback whale ( Megaptera novaengliae ) although this is mere speculation.
• Tuesday, May 23: In the morning, a group of common dolphin sighting ( Delphinus dolphins ) and around midday, we saw a whale we identified as a Mike Whale ( Balaenoptera acutorostrata ), although it is not an absolutely reliable identification.
• Thursday, May 26: we saw a group of common dolphins and breathing we identified as coming from a Sperm whale ( Physeter macrocephalus ). The breathing of a sperm whale is characteristic, because the blow hole is displaced to the left side of its head and the breathing forms an angle of 45 degrees.

Today we all got up early; we began leaving our beds since 5 in the morning to contemplate the spectacular view offered by the cliffs of Algarve's coast. Of course, this place has suffered the same urban abuse commited in any touristic place along the peninsular and insular geography of Spain.

Our entry to the Lagos marina is solemn, as we pass in front of the ancient fortress, which we reached through a natural channel and going under a drawbridge. A life size reproduction of an old caravel confirms to us we have arrived at port.

As we come near Cabo San Vicente, we enter one of the main seaway systems of the Atlantic, with great numbers of merchant ships, oil ships and large fishing vessels, en route to the Mediterranean and to West Africa's fishing grounds.

This inevitably brings to mind the eerie experience suffered by Nano, one of the sailors, when he arrived to the port of Noaudhibou, in Mauritania, during a crossing onboard the Snooty. They arrived in the dead of night, with no previous reference of the port. As they came near, they realized the docking area was full of ships, so they were forced to anchor amidst them. However, it was a great surprise when, in the light of day, they became aware they had docked at a phantom port, filled with abandoned, upside down and sunken vessels. The spectacle was uncanny, but it was even more surprising when they heard the explanation: those vessels, most of them old fishing boats, had belonged to large companies, who abandoned them on that spot, after they could be used no more.

There are many problems linked to fisheries in West Africa, but no one takes notice of them. These are rich fishing grounds with entirely artisanal fleets, victims of inifficient or inexistent fishing regulation and under exploitation by European fleets.

The Ranger proceeds navigation with hopes of arriving at the port of Lagos in Algarve ( Portugal ), tomorrow morning.

Under winds of 40 knots

Tuesday, June 7th, 2005 - Xavier Pastor -

As usual, the Ranger is holding perfectly, with no significant problems. There are just a few details that make life a little uncomfortable. Waves crash against the messroom’s ample windows, sometimes the water goes over the ship, and that causes water to seep inside through the joints. It seems that the new glass joints installed before leaving San Diego in the USA are not as watertight as they should be. The same happens in some of the berths that receive some water leakage from the hatch that goes to the deck. It is nothing serious, just a bit uncomfortable when you try to sleep dry. We navigate with sails most of the time, although when the wind speed is particularly inappropriate to get us close to our destination, we use one the two motors. 

The main threat faced by marine turtles, is incidental death from entanglement among fishing line hooks, which is the gear used to capture tunids and swordfish. Oceana is making efforts to reduce incidental captures of marine turtles in both sides of the Atlantic. Several modifications to fishing gear and bait have been proposed, prohibition zones and seasons, changes to the time of day when fishing lines are deployed, etc, in an attempt to reduce the significant number of incidental captures of turtles that occur around the world. We must keep in mind that marine turtles are considered endangered species.

One of these proposals is the use of circular hooks, in the shape of a “G”, which was first proposed in Japan, as a way to reduce labor related accidents to fishermen who were easily injured with hooks in a “J” shape. This was also considered a way to reduce incidental captures of turtles. It is harder for turtles to bite them and if so, the hook remains caught in the mouth, without being swallowed down to the esophagus. Currently, swordfish fishery in the United States has all together substituted “J shaped” hooks and replaced them by “G shaped” hooks. Oceana advocates for this substitution to be implemented also in Europe, together with other modifications to the fishing line industry.

During last night guard duty, the only new development was the proximity of a merchant ship that came close from the port side of the Ranger. Their potent headlights caught us by surprise, and it made us think it was a fishing boat; but they turned the lights off, and kept only the normal lights on. The ship kept coming closer and Bibi identified it as a merchant ship, so it was appropriate to establish radio communication with them to confirm our position.

“ Ship in position 35 degrees 17N and 26 degrees W, this is the Ranger. Do you copy? Over ".

“ Ranger, Ranger, ship in position. I copy. Over. ” They answered alter a brief wait. Whew!

“ We are at 2 degrees from your starboard ” Do you see us? Over

“ Yes, I see you, no problem ”

“ Ok, thank you and have a good watch. Stand by channel 16 ”

They had seen us, so our possible concern was gone.

It is odd, but the time during nocturnal guard duty goes by faster than during day time duty, even considering the many people around and improved visibility. During the three hours of our morning guard today, we had one moment of excitement when, as I was at the helm, the wind speed increased until the ship reached a velocity of 11 knots. The force of the wind was noticeable and we could see how it knocked on the sails, so our captain, Nuño, did not hesitate a moment in changing the bigger sail from the sailmast for the staysail, to keep them from breaking and the wind speed calmed down and settled, averaging at 9 knots, a much more convenient speed for this ship. Of couse, in the course of the day, we surpassed the previous record of the Ranger: 210 miles covered!!

At the moment, we are not sighting a large variety of species. The only species we see repeatedly are the Jelly fish: Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis) that pass around us like a floating menace. Of course, the lovely dolphins have come to play around the prow of our ship, about three times today.

Everyone onboard is excited with the possiblity to see a sperm whale. This animal has become our fixation during the crossing from the Azores to Lagos.

We still have another week of navigation without coming ashore and the feeling onboard is relaxed. Books pass from hand to hand, Jose entertains us playing bossanova on guitar, I write journal entries and we all worry about Mar’s ear condition, wishing he recuperates by diving time at the Gorringe Ridge.

Dives from the previous days took place at the Island of Faial-where the Ranger was docked-and were done under very harsh conditions. The sea was agitated, visibility was frankly poor and the water temperature did not exceed 16 degrees (celcius). Although the equipment used by Oceana divers was very well maintained to ensure quality and safety standards, the truth is we had not considered at the moment using what is known as “dry diving suits”. This type of equipment is very expensive, and is used for diving at very low temperatures, contrary to wet diving suits, which lets water circulate on the inside of the suit. We use the latter type while on board the Ranger. As a matter of fact, most dives to take place in this expedition were planned for temperate, tropical areas such as the Mediterranean in summer months. However, Bermudas and the Azores have been the exception.

So Mar Mas was fitted with a semi dry diving suit she had brought along and Soledad Esnaola wore two layers of wet diving suits. In those conditions, they faced three daily dives, each lasting forty minutes and under close watch by Bibi Alvarez, who remained sitting on the auxiliary boat. Bibi was “promoted” to the rank of first officer of the Ranger, after Carlos Perez departed Azores to return to Spain, in order to prepare new activities for the ship upon arrival in the Mediterranean.

The position indicated by the GPS was later confirmed by the ship’s sonar system after several rounds. In effect, at the right spot, rising majestic at 1 km from the abyss, the Joao de Castro presented a sort of plateau, at a depth of 50 meters. It is only 600 x 300 meters on the surface and several peaks rise up from that point, forming the crater of the volcano. One of these was clearly registered by the sonar system at 16 meters deep.  At that point, the captain, Nuño Ramos, ordered to cast the diving anchor, consisting of an anchor with a 10 meter chain and a 40 meter line, tied to an orange surface marker buoy whose purpose is to mark the maximum elevation point and provide divers with a point of submersion and resurface. A reference and support spot in the middle of the ocean. It was difficult to find one’s way in such a “reduced” surface.

After a long half hour, we saw the divers emerge from the water and speak to Bibi, who waited for them at the dingy: “Bingo! We we found the spot!” The buoy’s anchor had fallen right on the volcano’s peak, which according to Mar and Sole, was in full hydrothermal activity, emitting gases, hot water, and making spectacular burbling sounds. Loud cheers were heard onboard the Ranger.

After a prudent waiting period, to liberate the nitrogen accumulated in their blood during the first dive, he divers changed their oxygen tanks, seized their video and photographic cameras and dove again; and later, a third time.

We have seen the images. Swimming around in a background filled with green, brown and red algae, color altered at times by the sulfide emissions, we see great blactail combers ( Serranus atricauda ), ornate wrasse ( Thalassoma pavo ), rainbow wrasse ( Coris julis ), parrotfish ( sparisoma cretense ) and dolphin fish ( Coriphaena hippurus ). A few meters further, we see a small school of Striped red mullet (Mullus surmuletus), and numerous Bermuda chubs ( Kyphosus sectatrix ) swimming together with bluefin damselfish ( Abudefduf luridus ), among other species still not identified, in addition to Bearded Fireworm ( Hermodice carunculata ) specimens.