23 June

R/V Pelagia Cruise HERMES

Friday – 23 June 2006	Multibeam image
Surprise, surprise, the weather is fine on Rockall Bank. The wind calmed down and there was even some sun, both rare features in this area. We arrived here at our study area in the morning and started with a multibeam transect from the deep to the coral mounds. After a short start-up problem Magda and Ruud produced a nice coloured map with this new mapping tool on the Pelagia. The coral mound we wanted to investigate was clearly visible.
The positions for our 2 moorings and the two benthic landers could now be fixed. At the copious lunch all faces were present again. Afterwards our coral hotels were filled with fresh bottom water. These big aquaria with cooling are meant for the live corals that we still have to collect in the coming days. The water was collected by our giant "waterkist". This special NIOZ designed apparatus stands 3 m high and catches in one haul a cubic meter of water from the deep ocean. In the afternoon it was time to put our moorings in the water. Willem prepared the whole string of cables and floats. Basically a mooring is a long cable that stands vertically in the water. A heavy weight (400kg) keeps the lower end at the sea bottom, while glass floats at the top will keep the line stretched. It is a tool to make long-term measurement in the water column possible. In our case we attached a current meter, sediment trap (to catch sinking particles) and an OBS and fluorometer to measure the passing particles and algae. Both moorings were deployed successfully, and will stay at the bottom of the sea till the end of our cruise. In the evening multibeaming was continued, and at one time we had such a favourable course that to our surprise we could see half of a football match on our satellite TV. This of course gives some hope for the different nationalities on board to watch the coming matches of their favourite football team.