Two Eurofleets cruises set sail this August!

The EUROFLEETS scientific expedition season is full steam ahead. Following the great success of their predecessors (FOCUSAUV, PORO-CLIM, iMAR), it’s now time for GShark21 and Benchmark EUROFLEETS funded campaigns to take place. Both campaigns will take place near Greenland during the first weeks of August.

Expedition BENCHMARK (Benthic Habitats in Denmark Strait) involves a multidisciplinary team of experts, including biologists and oceanographers from MFRI (Iceland), ZSL (UK) and GINR (Greenland). Onboard the RV G.O. Sars, scientists will collect underwater video and photographs to characterise the composition and distribution of epibenthic fauna in the Denmark Strait, with a particular focus on taxa considered indicators of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. The campaign will also carry out dives using an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) in 20 stations located along three transects running in a NW-SE direction across the Denmark Strait.

Over the course of the expedition, we hope to give you some insight into the life of a scientist onboard a research vessel, and exclusive access to see some of the weird and wonderful sea creatures live from the seabed, Stay tuned!

The GShark21 campaign (Greenland shark Research) aims to study the Greenland shark’s reproductive habits, migratory patterns, and distribution. The planned 8-day research cruise on RV Dana will take place in Bredefjord, an area that holds the best promise to catch, tag, and release reproductive age sharks. This boat-side scenario also offers a unique opportunity to determine the actual reproductive status of each Shark via a portable Ibex Evo ultrasound machine used by veterinarians to visualize reproductive systems in large animals.