All hands ahoy!

Today it’s very late. Now that we have quite a lot of data is time to check them out and that takes time. Catches were again scarce yesterday. We got mainly American plaice, capelin and redfish. In the afternoon, when we confirmed that there was time for just one more haul we decided to change ground and go to one of the deepest strata. There there was sunshine too, and the truth is that we were very thankful for it (most of us anyway) after so many gray days.

American plaice from one of the hauls yesterday

One of the rare cod

 

One of the rare sun moments: warriors at rest. Alberto, Luis and Paco.

We planned to start at the deep end today, and to make the most of our day, we did yesterday the CTD cast corresponding to the first haul for today. That means that Nair had a very long day, because the cast ended after midnight. Deckhands had to endure severe cold this morning, the guys in the engine room have also been busy, and the kitchen works hard to feed us all, entering the dining room at noon like a hungry wolf pack. Tomorrow we will devote more time to the kitchen. But mothers, do not worry about us going hungry, there is no risk of that. I don’t know of any boat with better food than the Vizconde de Eza. Neither does Fergus. Oh, the sampling, I totally forgot. What I intended to say was that all of us have had our hands full. 

A redfish haul. From the left: Antonio, Vanessa, Lucía, Jorge and a ghost in the background.

 

The invertebrates take a lot of time. From the left: Teo, Fergus, Jose Luis, Vanessa and Marta.

For the rest of the day we have been fishing between 400 and 900 m. Tomorrow we will repeat this strategy, starting at the deep end and moving towards shallower waters, and gradually we will proceed eastward to complete the sampling in this area of ​​the Great Bank. So very diverse catch today: Greenland halibut, black dogfish, roughhead grenadier, blue antimoras, redfish, skates, cod, capelin, you name it. There was lots to do with the invertebrates, which are more diverse and abundant in the deepest strata.

But today I am going to finish with a fish you will surely like called Bathypterois dubius. This fish is also found in the Mediterranean and has been recorded in a great depth range, from 300 to almost 3000 m, but it prefers deep water. The family of this fish are called tripod fish, because they move on the seabed by leaning on their pelvic fins and tail. It does not have very good eyesight but it has instead great sensitivity in its pectoral fins. They can be moved forward and use to feel possible prey items. This fish is hermaphrodite, a great advantage when there is risk of no meeting any other fish in a long, long time. 

The tripod fish