Last week, the Oceana catamaran, Ranger, began sailing for its two month expedition through the western Mediterranean and the Atlantic to study seamounts and sea canyons. These ocean environments are rich in biodiversity but relatively unexplored due to their depth and complex terrains – that’s where our scientists, divers and underwater robot (ROV) come in.
In one of the most exciting aspects of this year’s expedition, Oceana will collaborate with Portuguese government officials and scientists to investigate the Gorringe Bank, a little-explored seamount and an oasis of biodiversity southwest of Portugal. Oceana last surveyed these waters in 2005, but this time around, using the ROV, the team will be exploring and documenting areas more than 2,500 feet below the surface of the ocean – that’s nearly half a mile!
The ROV will record high-resolution videos and photos, which will ultimately be used to propose the creation of marine protected areas and other conservation measures.
Such efforts have a proven track record of success: in 2009, the Spanish government announced the creation of ten new Marine Protected Areas in Spain’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Oceana and the Ranger played a key role in identifying and proposing protections for marine areas of interest in this by the Spanish government to implement the European Union’s biodiversity goals.
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