11. June

Todays Highlights

Date:June 11, 2004
Author:  Eilif Gaard, Faroese Fisheries Laboratory and Anne Stene Aalesund University College

Today’s station is located on the Reykjanes Ridge.  Instruments and gears were down to 1500 metres. We had rich catches of different jellyfishes, crustaceans and typical deep sea fishes.

In the Multinet, which collects the smallest zooplankton, we got samples from nine different depth intervals. We got rich samples and the most abundant species was the copepod, Calanus finmarchicus. Individuals from this species were incubated for measurements of egg production rates.

From the krill trawl, which samples from five different depth intervals, we got several shrimp species (e.g. Sergestes arcticus), and fish species like the tiny lanternfish Benthosema glaciale. The fish trawl, which samples from three different depth intervals, gave several interesting deep sea fishes. Characteristic for these species are their impressive teeth, e.g. the viperfish (Chaoliodus sloani) and the fang-tooth fish (Anoplogaster cornuta).

Today the visibility and weather conditions were favourable for marine mammal and seabird observations. The whale observations were quite exciting. Several marine mammal species including fin whales, sei whales, sperm whales, pilot whales and white-sided dolphins were spotted. We saw interesting seabirds such as puffin and guillemot far out at sea.

Weather Conditions

The weather and thereby the working conditions have been excellent, with a slightly overcast sky, calm sea and a moderate breeze from south.

Tomorrows expected highlights

Tomorrow it will be exciting to compare the species composition we have got so far with species composition on tomorrows station which is located further south and on the western side of the ridge. We will also get results from the copepod egg production measurements.