Marine

MRV Alba na Mara: Survey 1714A – Cruise Report

October 13, 2014 by Marine Scotland Communications No Comments | Category Marine Directorate general, Marine Directorate Science, Research Vessel Surveys

“Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure”. Herman Melville, Moby Dick.

A good book on a long sea trip is often a good source of inspiration. Finding and identifying rare marine species hidden beneath the azure of the Sea of the Hebrides is not, as might be expected, an easy task, but for the last three weeks the Alba na Mara has been doing just that.

When the capricious weather has decided to be kind, and at times it seldom felt like it would, we used the ship’s underwater camera system to survey several sites across the Sea of the Hebrides. Some of these sites were home to the tall sea-pen, Funiculina quadrangularis, and during the trip we were able to locate several areas that were previously unknown to science. Our other search for the UK’s largest and rarest bivalve mollusc, the fan mussel, Atrina fagilis, was guided by computer models developed jointly by Marine Scotland and Aberdeen University. Our journey has taken us to waters over 240m in depth and to seabed varying from deep mud to rocky cliffs. Our efforts look promising but the task of revealing the sea’s hidden treasures is always a difficult one.

Phil Boulcott, Scientist in Charge
Alba na Mara Cruise 1714A

• Read the Alba na Mara Cruise 1714A Cruise programme

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