July 28, 2008

Ana de la Torriente

Taking advantage of the fact that yesterday was a day off, the Rov's technicians joined the two umbilicals, so we went out cheery. We wanted to submerge the robot at a greater depth. Unfortunately, an approximately 20 knot W wind forced us to stay close to shore, so we did the tests with the Rov off of Zumaia at approximately 1 nautical mile.

We submerged the Rov to a depth of about 50 meters, on a rocky bottom covered with a layer of fine sediment. Despite finding some sponges of the genera Phakellia, Axinella and Geodia and some sea fans such as Alcyonium glomeratum and Eunicella verrucosa, it wasn't a place characterized by great biodiversity. We also found an area with numerous dead oysters, but unfortunately we did not find any live specimens.

In front of the Playa de la Concha, San Sebastián

Ana de la Torriente

Today we’ve surveyed canyons, identified interesting places and planned future dives. While sailing towards the canyons, we sighted various groups of common and bottlenose dolphins (Delphinus delphis and Tursiops truncatus). We also found a jellyfish known as Aguamala (Pelagia noctiluca) approximately 9 miles from the coast.

During the dive, in front of Arrikola Point in San Sebastian, we found the typically Cantabrian seabed: a rocky substrate with some overhangs approximately 2 meters high covered by various types of algae, including Cystoseira, Gelidium and Falkenbergia, harbouring different types of organisms, such as sponges, nudibranchs, starfish, ascidians and sea urchins. Amongst the fish species, we identified cleaner-wrasse (Ctenolabrus rupestris), corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops), pollacks (Pollachius pochachius) and blennies (Parablennius pilicornis).

"Heavy seas"

Jorge Candán

We’ve been at sea for almost two months with this campaign and have sailed for many miles –northern miles- although the truth is that we’ve been quite lucky with the weather and have been able to work practically every day. Slight winds and calm seas rocking us gently. The divers must dance to the rhythm of the currents that move them from side to side. The “heavy seas” remind us that, many miles away from here, the weather is more like winter, either more Cantabrian or more Atlantic, but definitely “more northern.”

Although this campaign has been focused on Spanish waters, tonight we have tied up on the other side of the Bidasoa (Hendaye-France), to document the seabeds near Fuenterrabia-Spain.

We carried out the first dive at the mouth of the estuary, on Zabala Point.

We land on a rocky seabed over which a prairie of algae (Falkenbergia rufolanosa) seems to be coming and going. A sea slug (nudibranch, Peltodoris atromaculata) is feeding in the prairie, hydrozoans cover some branches of a dead gorgonian and dozens of hermit crabs graze over the sponges. As always, the shy Ballan wrasse escape from the camera and hide amongst the rocks, cracks and sandbars.

A mollusc, the Berthellina edwardsi, mates between the rocks and nearby, a cloud of its eggs moves with the current.

Ocean sunfish (Mola mola) in Ratón de Guetaria

Ana de la Torriente y Enrique Talledo

Early in the morning, we departed from Zumaia and headed towards Guetaria.

Once there, we carried out one of the most spectacular dives you can have in the Cantabrian.

This is a coastal area where ocean sunfish (Mola mola) appear during the summer months.

After Ignacio San Miguel from the K-sub diving centre showed us the exact location, we descended to a sandy seabed at 22 meters depth with presence of large rock formations that rise to 15 meters depth. A place where ocean sunfish come to be cleaned by other fish: seabreams, black seabreams and even gulls on the water's surface.

Apart from enjoying this cleaning session, we documented the presence of a large school of mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), grey triggerfish (Ballistes carolinensis), invertebrates including the gorgonian (Leptogorgia lusitanica) or the polychaete (Sabella spallanzani).

But the surprise came at the end of the dive, when we found a gillnet in which various species of fish, including an ocean sunfish, were caught.

Zabala Point (Cape Higuer)

We carried out the second dive with the ROV off Cape Higuer, in Hondarribia, at a depth of approximately 50 meters. Even though we found species of sponges and red calcareous algae on the rocks, and nudibranchs, hydrozoans, sea urchins and shells, this area did not harbour an important density of organisms. The geomorphology, though, of the seabed was characteristic and included rocky formations of varying sizes that we had not seen until now.

In the afternoon, we carried out another dive with the divers. On a hard seabed at approximately 20 meters depth, various benthic invertebrates showed us their chromatic variety in front of the spotlights and flashes of the cameras.

We found an area where small rocks were covered with small algae. But on the overhangs there was abundant biodiversity, comprised mainly of sponges, cnidarians, worms, fish and tunicates.

23 July, 2008

Ana de la Torriente

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 where the angular crab (Goneplax romboides) likes to build its nests or caves. In deeper waters, in an area with more detritus, the seabed was dominated by the crinoid Leptometra celtica and rugose squat lobsters (Munida rugosa), which also build their nests in the sand and mud.

The fish species we found were mainly small catsharks, soles, hake, monkfish, triglids and dragonets. We also saw various catshark eggs atop sea pens (Funiculina quadrangularis).

Amongst the benthic invertebrates, there were the mollusks Calliostoma sp and Eledone cirrhosa, the goose foot starfish Anseropoda placenta, the polychaete Hyalinoecia tubícola and the anemone Mesacmaea sp.

After three hours working with the ROV, we hauled it up and travelled to our next destination, a rocky seabed comprised of slabs covered by fine sediment, at approximately 100 meters depth, in front of San Sebastian, 3.2 nautical miles away. On our way to the second site, we passed the trawler from Gijon that we saw yesterday, working in waters at 150 meters depth.

Canyons facing the Basque country

Ana de la Torriente

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 the coast. This destructive fishing technique seriously damages benthic ecosystems and uses non-selective fishing gear that is detrimental to traditional fishing communities.

At the first canyon, at approximately 10 nautical miles from the coast, we submerge the ROV and work for almost 4 hours, travelling almost 1 nautical mile. At 150 meters depth, we find a muddy seabed where the detritus increases as we descend and advance towards the inside of the canyon.

We document giant sea pens (Funiculina quadrangularis), some cuttlefish (Sepiola atlántica) burying themselves in the sand, various octopus (Eledone cirrhosa), many catsharks (Sciliorhinus canicula), various crustaceans, like rugose squat lobsters (Munida rugosa), and crinoids (Leptometra celtica). As well as: sea pens (Pennatula posphorea), a monkfish (Lophius sp.), a white holothurian (Eostichopus regalis), groups of Cerianthus membranaceus, areas with abundant prawns (Pandalus montagui), some hake (Merluccius merluccius), forkbeards (Phycis blennoides) and pouts (Trisopterus luscus), anemones (Sagartia cf. elegans), and some glass sponges.

A group of silvery pouts (Gadiculus argenteus) accompanied us for a while, possibly attracted to the light. Watching the anemone Anemonactis cf. mazeli capture a silvery pout was impressive, as it lifted its body out of the sand, wrapped itself around its prey and quickly buried itself again.

Since we had already spotted various trawlers in the area, we weren't surprised to find scars on the seabed along the mile we travelled, made by the pressure of the trawler doors on the substrate that destroy everything along their path.

We surveyed the area by zig-zagging around the canyon facing the Orio estuary. Since we finished at around 7 p.m., we decided to leave the dive with the ROV for tomorrow and return to the port of Zumaia to spend the night.

21 July, 2008

Jesús Renedo

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 the Ranger.

We started the campaign in Vigo 52 days ago, but if we count the crossing from Valencia and the last days we've spend getting everything ready, we’ve been sailing now for more than two months, with four crew members on board, and the cook, Patricia. We are the only ones who have not changed; three campaign chiefs have come, various ROV operators, divers and some guests, so the campaign personnel has been changing periodically.

Bibi, Mario, Jus , Patricia and I are enjoying the sailing, especially around the Atlantic coast and the Cantabrian, in spite of the hard work. Each port is unique: the docks, marinas, towns and cities. It's very different from the Mediterranean, where the marinas all look the same, with their nightlife, bars, cafes and apartment buildings. Here, each port has its own personality. We are constantly surprised by the landscapes we see from the ocean: the mountains, valleys, green prairies, forests, cliffs, estuaries and the small fishing ports that suddenly appear amongst all of this beauty.

Calling and asking for a berth is also very different, everyone helps us and is very nice. Many people come to say hello and ask us questions and we leave behind many friends at each stop.

We’ve been lucky with the weather and have worked almost every day.