The expedition included a team of 6 CIIMAR researchers and stoped at the Porto Cruise Terminal on June 16.
As part of the European TwinDEEPS project, CIIMAR is leading an expedition to the deep sea in the area of the Gorringe seamount, the largest Portuguese and European seamount. The expedition included a team of 6 CIIMAR researchers and stoped at the Port of Leixões Terminal on June 16.
The deep sea represents 98% of the Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone and is an area of great relevance to the National Strategy for the Sea 2030, which aims to balance economic and social development with the sustainability of national marine resources. The main objective of the TwinDEEPS project is to leverage Portugal’s research capacity in the area of deep sea exploration and observation, linking CIIMAR to three centers of excellence in Norway (IMR), the Netherlands (NIOZ) and Germany (AWI). Through an advanced training plan, the project will develop a new generation of highly qualified researchers and science managers with an impact on the sharing and transfer of knowledge and advanced technology between the partners.
It is in this context that CIIMAR, together with the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), is leaded the most recent expedition to the Gorringe submarine bank, Portugal’s largest underwater mountain. This expedition took place on board the NIOZ research vessel RV Pelagia and has a total of 9 researchers, 6 of whom are CIIMAR researchers. The Portuguese contribution did not stop there, since the remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to be used in the campaign was the ROV Luso, a Portuguese ROV from the Mission Structure for the Extension of the Continental Shelf – EMEPC. This expedition follows a series of workshops on planning, leadership and data management for oceanographic campaigns, also organized under TwinDEEPS, which has already trained 11 researchers and science managers from Portuguese institutions.
The campaign’s objectives
The lead scientists in this campaign, Joana Xavier from CIIMAR and Furu Mienis from NIOZ, had the main objectives of “mapping and characterizing the biodiversity of both the seabed and the water column, as well as collecting environmental information that allows us to better understand the functioning of this large ecosystem and its different habitats,” explains Furu Mienis from NIOZ. During the campaign was possible to document the presence, distribution and behaviour of megafauna species such as whales, birds and sea turtles, assess the diversity of microbial communities in the water column, characterize its physical-chemical structure and the availability of nutrients, and assess the extent of human impact on the Gorringe including the impact of marine litter and emerging contaminants.
“In recent years there has been a great effort by the scientific community to study this submarine bank. This campaign complements that work by focusing on the deepest areas of the Gorringe (between 500 and 3000 m deep), implementing a multidisciplinary approach that will make use of the most advanced ocean exploration and observation technology in both countries,” says Joana Xavier, coordinator of the TwinDEEPS project. All the data and samples will be made public and available to the national authorities with competencies in the management and conservation of marine biodiversity. These include the ICNF, which is developing the management plan for this Special Area of Conservation integrated into the Natura 2000 Network. “We hope that the data and knowledge generated as part of this campaign will support this process and thus contribute to the protection of this biodiversity hotspot of exceptional natural value in the North Atlantic,” explains Joana Xavier.
The Gorringe Seamount Expedition
The campaign aboard the NIOZ research vessel left the port of Las Palmas for Gorringe Bank on June 3 and ended at the Porto Cruise Terminal on June 16, before returning to its base at NIOZ in the Netherlands. The stop in Leixões allowed the ship and the ROV to be presented to the rest of the CIIMAR community and other entities with an interest in the project, as well as a session to present the preliminary results of the campaign.
About the Gorringe Bank
Located approximately 240 kilometers southwest of Cape St. Vincent, the Gorringe Bank is an impressive submerged mountain range that stretches about 180 kilometers long and 60 kilometers wide. This structure rises from the ocean floor at a depth of around 5,000 meters to reach a plateau between 200 and 300 meters, with the Gettysburg and Ormonde mountains coming significantly closer to the surface, at just 60 and 25 meters respectively. This underwater bank is widely recognized as an oasis of marine biodiversity, home to countless species and habitats of great conservation importance. From sponge and coral gardens, to fish, mammals and seabirds that find an ideal habitat here to feed and reproduce.
