Mediterranean 2006 Expedition: On-board Diary
Toward the Pitiusas
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 21, 2006
Although the weather is not favourable, we decided to head toward Formentera in order to get a little closer to the marine mountains we want to document. The wind picks up and we must change our course and take refuge on the west coast of Ibiza. It is a rough night until we are able to find shelter.
Palma de Mallorca
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 20, 2006
We spent the day at port loading supplies on board and waiting for new crew members who will join us on this last part of the journey. We heard that the people from CRAM had also arrived in Palma with their sailboat, the "Vell Mari," so we went over to say hello and ended up have dinner with them, exchanging points of view and telling each other about the work we are carrying out in the Mediterranean. We were happy to spend some time with other colleagues.
Read More...Cape Blanc
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 19, 2006
We wake up early to find the impressive cliffs of Cap Blanc in front of us. There are vestiges of a large fossil coral reef here that existed in this area of the Mediterranean during the Miocene. More than 5 million years after, we are here to see how these sea floors have evolved. We will use the transection method in order to learn the distributions of the different ecosystems and species between the cliff and the depths of 100 meters. For this, we will work with both the divers in the shallower areas and the robot in the deeper areas.
Cape Salinas
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 18, 2006
Taking advantage of the fact that we are close to Mondragó Cove, the divers are going to film the sea bottom and, more importantly, the caves and rock walls. An unfamiliar yet highly important habitat for the coastal area can be found here, it is a "troittoir" or "ledge," known in the Balearic Islands as "tenasses." It is a mass of calcareous red algae (normally of the Litophyllum species, but sometimes also Neogoniolithon) which forms a small ledge just where the waves break, making an immensely interesting biological community.
In front of Cala Mitjana
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 17, 2006
At night, the wind picks up and, although we could have kept sailing until we reached our destination, the rough seas would have prevented us from carrying out our work anyway. So, in order to take advantage, we have decided to change our plans a little and do some diving in the south-eastern part of Mallorca, where we will be sheltered from the north-easterly winds that are powerfully blowing and we will have more of a chance of success.
Read More...Palma de Mallorca - We load the ROV
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 16, 2006
After arriving at Palma de Mallorca to load supplies and make some changes in the crew, we being to prepare ourselves to receive the submarine robot (ROV) that we will use during the next few weeks. The day has been quite hectic; it is very difficult to find a slot in Palma these days and we need one that will permit the use of the crane to load the ROV and all the necessary material. In order to achieve this, we have had to tie up and untie the boat five times, occupying different slots as they became available thanks to the cooperation of their owners.
Read More...Punta Prima and the seamounts
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 13, 2006
Off the east coast of Formentera there are areas where we can find a combination of walls full of sponges, rocky zones and sandy areas with Posidonia oceanica. Here we can see bigscale scorpionfish (Scorpaena scrofa), cardinal fish (Apogon imberbis), peacock wrasse (Symphodus tinca) and red mullet (Mullus barbatus). There is also a wide range of sponges, with species from the genera of Tenacior, Crambe, Sarcotragus, Cacospongia, Chondrosia, Oscarella, etc.
Read More...Es Vedra and Sa Bota
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 12, 2006
The day starts off a little cloudy, but the sea is fairly calm. We head towards the south-west of Ibiza to document some coralligenous and rocky sea beds in this area. At Es Vedra we want to take a look at the state of the red gorgonians (Paramuricea clavata). On approaching the area, we admire the beauty of the two little islands and their steep cliffs where some Eleanor’s falcons are breeding (Falco eleonorae). We need to dive to below 35 metres to get a good look at the largest gorgonians.
Read More...Els Freus Marine Reserve: Punta Gavina
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 11, 2006
A little bit of everything today: marine meadow, Cystoseira sp. forests, rocky walls and caves.
There is also a ‘fish cleaning station’ in this area. Instead of yesterday’s shrimps, the species in charge of the task today is the tort (Symphodus melanocercus), and its customers are mainly peacock wrasse (Symphodus tinca) and damselfish (Chromis chromis), which, to request this de-lousing service, remain quite still in the Posidonia meadow in an almost vertical position.
Read More...Els Freus Marine Reserve: La Plataforma and Gastabi island
Author: Ricardo Aguilar
Date: September 10, 2006
The condition of the sea continues to be perfect for our work. In the morning we had arranged to meet the people from the Marine Reserve, who are helping us to locate dive zones. We will be starting with a sandy sea bed with a few thickets of Posidonia oceanica where a metal structure has sunk which is being covered by native flora and fauna. This is a regular haunt of yellowmouth barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis) and dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus).
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