17 May 2011 Trawling for Inverts

We're still in Flandres checking out the seafloor. This time we took a trawl net and scooped up some critters from the bottom to see what was down there. There all sorts of animals. 5 species of sea spiders, 5 or 6 species of Antarctic fish, sponges, octopus, bivalves, amazing rocks that tell a story about this area (future blog from our marine geology expert, Amy), more worms than I have ever seen. Like after a rainy day in the summer. Hmmm, what else, crustaceans, macroalgae, sea stars, brittle stars. There is a lot of life down there.

The trawl net is towed behind the metal frame seen in the picture. When it comes up it is full of mud and in today's case, lots of amazing (and some large) rocks. The net is then lifted high, untied and down comes the mud, the rocks, the animals. It is done little by little so everything isn't crashed down onto the deck. But it is messy.

This is quite an ordeal. It took the entire day to trawl the bottom, hoist it up, and then slowly sort through it all. It was getting dark before we were done...Well that's a little misleading as it starts getting dark around here at about a quarter to three in the afternoon.

A busy day shoveling the mud, identifying sea creatures, and, of course, enjoying the beautiful scenery. Flandres Bay is a sight to behold. Our presence didn't seem to bother the seals lounging around on the icebergs.