Oceana Ranger Expedition 2011: Heading Toward Seamounts
End of campaign
Author: Pepelu, Ranger crewmember
Date: August 15, 2011
As a crewmember on board the Ranger, my tasks included:
- docking and casting off from the bow (along with Charly... my buddy)
- on watch on the bridge from 12 to 15 and 00 to 03 (the 1st watch ok, the 2nd one… sigh).
- casting and lifting the ROV and controlling the umbilical cable (1 meter up, 5 meters down, all the way up, up, up!!!)
Read More...Passing through Formentera
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 13, 2011
The storm passed at last and we set sail to Sagunto where we’ll finish the 2011 campaign, although first we'll make a stop at Formentera to dive and document and destruction of the posidonia beds caused by ship anchors. In the Balearic Islands, there are a series of ecological buoys, which we talked about in this diary last year, around some points in the archipelago, that signal the location of the beds to prevent ships from anchoring there and destroying them. But there are not enough buoys and the ship captains obviously don’t care too much.
Read More...Storm in Almeria
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 11, 2011
We took advantage of a three-day storm to work on the computers and do a thousand other things we needed to get done, like always when we’re in port. We’re also planning the trips home for whoever isn’t crossing back to Sagunto, like Carlos Suarez, the underwater photographer, who needs to travel from Almerimar to Lanzarote, a difficult combination; and the ROV techs who need a truck and lots of energy to disassemble all their equipment and take everything back to Barcelona, like always.
Read More...Last day on the bank
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 8, 2011
It looks like today is the last day of the 2011 campaign on Seco de los Olivos because, unfortunately, a strong wind storm is headed our way and we won’t be able to work for at least three days.
Mountains under the sea
Author: Silvia García
Date: August 7, 2011
We returned to Alboran after three good days of working on Gorringe and roughly one and a half days sailing. We’re going to document another one of the many seamounts in this area, one that we barely know anything about. Afterwards, we’ll return to Seco de los Olivos for some more diving before the end of this campaign.
Read More...Documenting the sea beds of Gorringe
Author: Ana de la Torriente
Date: August 4, 2011
We set sail from Portimão 4 days ago and headed toward Gorringe with the support of the Foundation for the Third Millenium. It’s the second time this year that we’ve tried to study and document the sea beds of these seamounts because the weather and strong winds have prevented us from doing so up to now. The forecast looked good for 3 or 4 days, so we had to give it a try.
Read More...On our way to Gorringe
Author: Nuño Ramos
Date: July 31, 2011
Since I wrote the other day about returning from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean due to bad weather, today I'll write about returning to the ocean again. The small window of good weather in Gorringe appeared a few days ago and the forecast looks good so we quickly set sail from Almerimar. We intend on picking up Ana de la Torriente in Portimão and then continuing on to Gorringe Bank.
Read More...Journal of a ROV technician
Author: Pitu Rovirosa
Date: July 28, 2011
After the report said that we would not have good weather conditions, the day starts with no wind, but it increased as the morning passed. When we arrived at the bank, we decided to launch a dredge, with no success, and a couple of CTD. In the afternoon, the wind abated and the sea let us go in search of the black coral and its dark magic.
ROV breakdown
Author: Silvia García
Date: July 26, 2011
The fright has been minimal. Yesterday afternoon the ROV broke down, forcing us to ask for a new unit from the surface. After receiving and installing it, the tests on the port of Almerimar offer satisfactory results. Therefore it seems that we will be able to work tomorrow.
Read More...
What's New
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Press Release18/08/2011
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Press Release14/07/2011
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Press Release22/06/2011
