There was high biodiversity even in the dark depths of the cold ocean
The survey was a joint speculation between the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources ( GINR ) and ZSL, with the telescope of providing cognition on benthic habitats in areas of Marine Stewardship Council ( MSC ) West Greenland Coldwater Prawn Fishery.
We got vitamin a far as to the methamphetamine border, which then prevented us to reach some of the target stations. however, we collected enough of images at stations promote south and we are excited to compare these to diachronic images from the 80s. We were golden to re-encounter a rare trench water carnivorous sponge, Chondrocladia gigantea, at a depth of 445m, which we already spotted once in 2016 as the first gear observation ever made in Greenland waters .
We tested a new customs made television sled, which is basically equitable a GoPro and two torches in subaqueous houses, mounted on a sled which can be dragged behind the boat .
A custom-made video sled captured more mobile species, such as crabs and fish
It allowed us to cover larger areas and capture more mobile species, such as crabs and pisces. Eelpouts, redfish and wolflike were often seen lingering between sponges, corals and feather stars. We besides discovered a pristine cushy coral garden at 400m and were amazed by such biodiversity in the colored depths of the cold ocean .
even at depths beyond 800m, we frequently encountered tubeworms and sea cucumbers that burrowed in the soft sediment, filtrating sea squirts which attach to small stones and pink sea anemones which may cover entire stretches of sea floor .
Even at depths beyond 800m, we encountered deep sea fish (Grenadier) captures on video
We know that across-the-board trawl has impacted the habitats of west Greenland, but there remains many beautiful and divers habitats to discover. Our images of the sea go to bed demonstrate there are habitats worth of protection and our close collaboration with sustainable Fisheries Greenland has seen gear changes that reduce shock of fishing on the sea go to bed .
The team will embark on another journey to areas of halibut fishery off the shelf of West Greenland in September. The Greenland halibut has recently entered the MSC sustainability system, yet little is known about the benthos inhabiting these great depths. We are hoping to gain insights using the new television sled which has proven successful on this trip .
