Oceana Ranger Expedition 2010: On-board Diary
Ausias March. More carnivorous sponges and the importance of rhodoliths.
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 5, 2010
This is the second of the seamounts in the Balearic Islands that we are going to take samples of. In previous campaigns, we have documented its peak, which rises up to 90 m from the surface from a 400 m deep bottom. Finding a carnivorous sponge species again, as occurred in the 2007 expedition, was one of our man goals. As it rises to a relatively shallow depth, it still receives enough light for some species of algae to survive. Some of them thus form a type of habitat called maërl or rhodoliths that we found in vast expanses.
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Ses Olives. We found a field of Isidella elongata, bamboo coral in good condition, enormous and spectacular.
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 4, 2010
Two ROV submersions and a dredger in Ses Olives in the South are the result of a fairly complete day. This mount, some 20 nm to the east of Ibiza is the one we were looking at before the ROV broke down, and we have returned here to continue documenting its deepest slopes and beds. We had the opportunity to film three hours of seabed in the morning and about four hours in the afternoon with a dredger to collect a sample of the type of seabeds between submersions.
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Port of Palma de Mallorca. 1001 failures.
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 3, 2010
In the end, the ROV rupture was more complex than we had thought. That is why we were not able to go out last night toward the mountains as we had planned. Many hours have been necessary to solve numerous failures that have been coming up as different parts of the ROV were checked. They have practically completely taken it apart and checked each one of its components like cameras, plates, cables and connectors.
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In search of the Mediterranean madrepora.
Author: Carlos Minguell
Date: August 2, 2010
As the Oceana Ranger must remain in port for ROV repairs (this afternoon the specialist in charge of it arrives), Ricardo has decided that we divers should spend the day on an unusual search: locating and documenting some Mediterranean madrepora Cladocora caespitosa colonies that were filmed briefly during an Oceana Ranger expedition in 2006. This coral is on the decline in the Mediterranean and its small colonies, of a size that does not usually exceed 20 cm in diameter. It is found spread out on shallow seabeds of our coasts.
Read More...Port of Palma. Groundhog Day.
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 1, 2010
We continued in the port of Palma awaiting the technician who will fix, we hope, the robot. It seems like Groundhog Day because in Cartagena we were in a very, very similar situation, waiting for Monday for the part that would allow us to keep working to arrive. Besides, since we reached Palma, for those of us who do not dive, every day is the same. We repeat the same day every day here, in front of the computer.
Read More...Port of Palma de Mallorca. Dives at Sa Dragonera.
Author: Thierry Lannoy
Date: July 31, 2010
We made and early start out to Dragonera Island where we made two submersions, a deep one in the morning, and the second one, closer to the surface, about 25 meters deep.
First we discovered a vertical wall to the south of Dragonera Island. Around 20 meters deep, we ran across a group of barracuda. Visibility was excellent and it allowed us to get a good look at the life surrounding this point of the island.
We went multi-level diving, going up the level little by little at different depths and observing several different types of marine life along the ascent.
Read More...Palma de Mallorca.
Author: Gorka Leclercq, Ranger Videocameraman.
Date: July 30, 2010
We are docked in the port of Palma. From here, we planned two dives at Dragonera Island. The “catch” is that it is 25 miles away and making the crossing in our dinghy would be impossible.
After making several arrangements, Carlos Pérez appeared among the ships of the port of Palma with a vessel that was a bit “atypical” for our diving tasks... “it’s the only thing that I have found, guys, he said to whoever laughed more than they should, the...”
Read More...We are suspending dives until Monday.
Author: Silvia García
Date: July 29, 2010
The several hours that pilot Pitu and copilot Fleta spent changing ROV parts were definitely in vain. Today, it broke down again right when we reached a seabed that promised wonders (we almost fell on top of a deepwater shark, possibly Centrophorus sp.), and we were only able to find the solution by returning to land and awaiting the arrival of the specialized technician who came from England to Palma.
Read More...Ses Olives, the first of the seamounts and sperm whale in the Channel of Majorca.
Author: Silvia García
Date: July 28, 2010
Tonight, we will sleep lying a-hull above Ses Olives, the underwater elevation that we are researching. Oceana is requesting protection of this singular spot given its importance as a hot spot for marine life here in the Channel of Majorca.
Read More...Rest in Formentera and the ecological buoys of the Balearic Islands.
Author: Silvia García
Date: July 27, 2010
Every so often, sea expeditions require a day off for rest. This is always welcomed by the crew, especially if it coincides with our arrival on Formentera. We are at the Formentera Marina at a small port next to s´Estany des Peix, a small bay in the midst of SCI Ses Salines d'Eivissa i Formentera. The area forms a part of Natura 2000 Network due to the major Posidonia prairies it shelters.
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What's New
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Report17/09/2010
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Press Release19/08/2010
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Press Release27/07/2010
