Journal

Remember the yo-yo cam I talked about earlier? (April 30 journal) Well, we have been deploying it. Do you have any idea what is down there? What would you think the bottom of Flanders Bay might look like. The first picture that came back was shocking - three large life forms looking up at the camera. I know all life began in the water but what are these creatures? Oh wait, that is us saying cheese before we dropped the camera down...

Deploying the yo-yo cam
This is Julie (Marine Tech), myself, and Kris (an ET) watching the lift off of the yo-yo cam. As you can see the flash is really bright. And as you cannot see, the camera failed to include Craig who was next to us. You can see his knee if you look closely.

So the pictures that came out were really cool. Tons of life down there at the end of Flanders Bay. Given how cold those waters are one would not necessarily expect a ton of different organisms. But we did. The yo-yo cam took A LOT of pictures. Craig gave me these so that you can see for yourself. Check out these pictures. Look Closely!

Sea Floor in Flanders Bay
You have to look very closely. Can you find the Sea Stars? Sea spiders? Brittle Stars? Anenome? The type of worm that came up in the sediment the other day - the Echiuran worm?

Sea Floor in Flanders Bay
If you look at the bottom third just to the left you will see a rock with a sea star on it. A little further up might be a tunicate on a a rock. Some of those red circular structures are medusa jellies - like the one from the journal the other day on the megacore. Oh yes, there are sea spiders down here too.

Sea Floor in Flanders Bay, Antarctica
Whoa. Are your eyes adjusting to this yet? This has a crustacean (far left), more sea spiders, medusa jellies, and more Echiuran worms. That purplish blue animal closer to the top right is an octopus.

Tunicate on rock
Here is what a tunicate on a rock looks like above water. They attach themselve to something and filter feed, meaning they suck what is passing them and excrete what they don't want. Though very simple looking and filter feeders, they are in the phylum Chordata. Who knew.

Tunicate on rock
A few tunicates on rocks came up in our trawl yesterday.

Details
Author
Paula Dell
Date
Location
Southern Ocean/Palmer Deep
Expedition
Biology of Antarctic Fishes
Weather Summary
Slightly cloudy, very warm (relatively speaking)
Temperature
31
Wind Speed
9
Wind Chill
21.74

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