The Calm Dive Before the Storm

When the ROV Ægir6000 reached the bottom of the seafloor, everyone watching was met with a salt and pepper seafloor, that have been created by numerous burrows spanning the seafloor. The burrows are formed by a small amphipod known as Neohela, and the mounds of excavated material outside their home create bright spots on the seabed, while the undisturbed patches are much darker due to an abundance of agglutinated foraminifera.

During the 800m long transect, hundreds of Neohela burrows spanned the entire dive though here and there further brightened by colourful deep-sea fish species like Rhodichthys regina (eng: Threadfin seasnail, no: Kongeringbuk), Paraliparis bathybius (eng: Black seasnail, no: Svart ringbuk), and Lycodes frigidus (eng: Glacial eelpout; no: Arktisk ålebrosme).

The moment the first dive was finished and the ROV was on deck, all operations had to be stopped until Sunday morning because of a storm with 6m high waves, making it too difficult to work. Operating in the deep-sea is different than operating nearshore. When a storm approaches, there is nowhere for the ship to seek shelter, and everyone onboard had to ride out the storm.

In addition to the weather, the environment in the deep sea is generally more difficult to work in compared to the Norwegian shelf. The Norwegian deep-sea is filled with steep underwater mountain ranges which foothills lead all the way down to the abyssal plains that requires specialized equipment to work in and withstand the extreme water pressure. The ROV, Ægir6000, allows the scientist onboard to navigate this difficult terrain while also being able to sample biology and geology right as it is encountered in the video.

It’s an exciting time for Mareano that’s required a lot of preparation and adaptation along the way. But we’re finally in the deep now!