And here is a video of the CUMECS expedition prepared by our friends Fabio and Vittorio from CNR:

This is our third day at sea and we are happy because we have good weather and our study area across the Malta-Sicily Escarpment has been almost completely surveyed with multibeam. The most interesting feature discovered so far is a large submarine landslide, the area of which is as large as 5000 football pitches!

We also continued getting samples from the seafloor, and today we managed to obtain six sediment cores from the submarine landslide and a nearby channel. We have been a bit unlucky with the seismic acquisition system, however, because the high temperatures are affecting the power supply; our helpful technicians are trying to solve the problem.

But we are happy for another reason! Our chief engineer Pietro has invited us to some his home-made limoncello...oh my God!!!! And we had a super lunch and dinner, with lots of fresh fish...rice with calamari, fried cod, shrimps, octopus and more!!! This is just a floating research restaurant!!!!

And the people on board the RV Urania are just start trembling for the tomorrow's football match......because the crew and some scientists are Italian and also there are some Spanish onboard!

An exciting day

Today has been an amazing day, because we have successfully recovered three gravity cores of approximately 3 m length at 300, 500 and 600 m water depth.The selection of the coring locations was based on the recently acquired multibeam data from the Malta-Sicily Escarpment. We targeted an interesting small landslide within a larger landslide scar to understand its nature and age. While we were collecting the cores we were paid a visit by a friendly shark.

After coring operations we surveyed the steep sidewall of the landslide with the ROV. We carried out a 5 hour transect during which we discovered black coral communities, fishes, urchins and seapens!!! It was a nice surprise, especially when our friendly shark came back to say hello on camera!!!! 

Balotelli canyon

Germany 1 (Ozil penalty) - Italy 2 (super Mario Balotelli) (Euro 2012 semi-final)

This is the most important result of the night! While we were surveying the outer shelf along the Malta Escarpment, the crew of the Urania and many members of the CUMECS team were eagerly following the Euro 2012 semi-final match between Germany and Italy. And while we were doing this, we discovered a new submarine canyon, the head of which is characterised by small-scale submarine landslides. Since Mario Balotelli was the man of the match, we decided to call this canyon Balotelli canyon.

First day continued

We left Malta Grand Harbour early this morning aboard a conveyance ship which ferried us to R.V. Urania which was waiting for us outside the harbour.  This ‘tender’ was larger than many of the ships scientists would use to conduct research from!  It did not take long to complete the 3 mile journey to the Urania in open water.

All luggage was transferred by crane (for safety reasons, not because we packed too much), and then our safety tour began.  Indoors the ship is air conditioned, but the weather was very warm and once a door to the outside was opened, everyone was greeted by a blast of hot air. Many of the scientists had to stop themselves jumping into the flat calm water for a swim.  Time passed quickly setting up equipment and before long it was time for lunch.  Every scientist left satisfied knowing then next work shift would be fuelled by delicious ravioli.  

The cruise work is split into shifts, 8-12, 12-4 and 4-8 through the full 24 hours of the day.  As a result some people went to bed in preparation for their night shift, while others worked.

The Urania and her crew, being Italian, are full of expectation for tonight’s football game against Germany.  Most scientists will also be cheering on Italy regardless of their own nationality, after all, we have to show solidarity with our hosts, no? 

 

Despite the football, seismic and multibeam data acquisition will continue right through the night.