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Yesterday we finished the day with two hauls very similar to the earlier ones, quite scarce and dominated by the black dogfish, roughhead grenadiers, the blue antimoras and the Greenland halibut. But as I said, scarce catches. In the second to last haul we also got this enormous sea spider (picnogonid). I got the feeling that I have shown it before. The genus is Colossendis. The photo is not good and on top of it the animal is lying on its back because its legs did not support it. But the proboscis, that tube-like appendage, which is its mouth, can be seen very well. Beside the proboscis there are two appendages called cheliphores, to attack and defend themselves. They look like two short legs but they are not. You can also see the palps, although they are to the side. They are the other two short and dark red appendices, darker than the legs. 

Colossendis upside down

 

To give the storm more time and room to pass through the westernmost part of our study area, we went during last night to the “beach”, the shallowest part of the Grand Banks outside Canadian waters. Here we have spent all Sunday, wrapped in fog as usual and working non-stop and without any incidents, which is the main thing. Only the fish are missing. Almost everything we have fished today has been limanda, with some skate, some yellowtail flounder, some sandlance (except for a haul that brought mostly this species), some cod. One of hauls during the shift of Jose Luis’ team included a female cod that has weighed 20 kg, of which 3 were the gonads. 

There is a reason why yellowtail flounder got its name.

We have also fished two specimens of a polychaete that Teo says is "a beauty" and that "its name makes it justice" (Aphrodita hastata). Although taste is very personal I think Teo is wrong because we all know that the real beauties are deep-sea fish. And the gentleman who described this polychaete, Mr J Percy Moore, in 1905, was probably thinking of something else, or a fish, when the name came to his mind. Although it is true that all these animals look much less flattering outside their environment. Teo says that the chetae (those lateral filaments) of the Aphrodite are iridescent underwater, and it's true. You should search for photos of this animal on the internet. And since we are discussing taste, I’ll you that cod, rays, and haddock find this worm very tasty... 

Aphrodita hastata, on the left upside down, on the right, well, in the right position.

And this is the last thing sea mice see when a cod finds them.

Later today a sperm whale visited when we were casting the CTD in haul 37, about 70 m depth. The lucky onlookers were Nair, who saw it up close, Miguel, who was casting the CTD, and Ramón who happened to be on the bridge. I had hardly time to see it from the bow, and thanks to Ramon, who scared the hell out of me with his shout to warn me.

In short it has been a very busy day: these shallow water hauls  happen very fast, in 3-4 minutes the warp has been shot, the gear sits on the bottom in just two minutes and 30 minutes later we are hauling back in. There is hardly any time to do anything. Luckily today the deckhands did not have to spend so long on deck, because it was very cold again.

Hauling the gear. From the left: Luis, Paco, Alberto and Luis.

Nearly there: Luis, Paco, Alberto and Luis