BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

ABIDES-1 Cruise (29GD20170205) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2017, To study the transport processes from the submarine canyon flanks of the Catalan margin to deeper areas caused by the bottom trawling activities and evaluate the impact on the sedimentary substrate.To address several of the specific objectives proposed in this project objectives it will be necessary to carry out three separate oceanographic campaigns six months each other to record time series of oceanographic parameters through the anchorage of several anchors equipped with current meters, turbidimeters and sediment traps located inside submarine canyons . In the first of these campaigns, we will proceed to anchoring the anchors, in the second to the maintenance and in the third to the final recovery of the instruments, to cover an annual cycle of record the sediment transport processes and identify the contribution of the resuspension by trawling to sedimentary flows . In each one of these campaigns will be transects of CTD stations to study the seasonal variability of hydrography and formation of nephelloid layers in the column of water and surface sediment cores will be obtained . Sampling will be done both in open slope environments and in the interior of canyons submarines. The oceanographic vessel chosen for these three campaigns is the B / O García del Cid, which has the right characteristics to carry out the tasks planned and the crew is experienced with anchoring maneuvers and recovery of oceanographic anchors

GALILEO-IHM-2017 Cruise (29HE20170208) carried out on the Research Vessel Hespérides in 2017, This project has two main objectives: 1. Trials of signals and positioning of the european GNSS Galileo for the OS and PRS Services. 2. Various bathymetric surveys for nautical charting purposes, This data will be available for the oficial Spanish Hydrographic Office nautical chart portfolio

RETRO-BMC Cruise (29HE20170408) carried out on the Research Vessel Hespérides in 2017, The RETRO-BMC aimed at studying the variability of the Malvinas-Brazil Confluence region at the mesoscale and submesoscale, including thermohaline intrusions and the river plume. A secondary objective was to gather combined current+hydrography data in the Beagle Channel

ZEE-2017 Cruise (29HE20170612) carried out on the Research Vessel Hespérides in 2017, Oceanographic cruise of the Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone 2017 in waters of the Canary Archipelago. Objectives: - The systematic bathymetric survey of designated areas with full exploration of the background, using multibeam probes. - The systematic collection of gravimetry and magnetometry data and of acoustic profiles of the marine subsoil structure. The Obtaining this data will be secondary and always prioritizing the multibeam bathymetry from the previous section. - The systematic collection of oceanographic data and complementary environmental - Vertical Profiles of Celerity of Sound, through XBT Batitermographs, - Meteorological Data, through instrumentation of the Weather Station, -Surface temperature and salinity data, through Thermosalinograph equipment, - Current data in the surface layers through acoustic current meters ADCP

DREAMER-1 Cruise (29SG20170313) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017, The European hake, Merluccius merluccius L., is one of the most important economical fisheries in the North-East Atlantic that also plays a key role in the marine ecosystem. After the implementation by the EU of various recovery plans for both stocks, the spawning biomass has recently recuperated, after more than two decades under the security limits. However, recruitment remains highly variable, and in the case of the Southern stock (SS) still decreasing. The overall objective of the project is to analyze the causes that determine hake recruitment with special attention to the demographic and environmental causes and focusing in particular in the seasonal differences in the spawning pattern (SS hake shows two spawning peaks, in late winter and late spring-summer), larval distribution, trophic dynamics of larvae, seasonal differences in recruitment and connectivity patterns between stocks. To achieve these objectives the project will carry out two research surveys, in March and June 2017 within the main hake spawning area, between Cape Finisterre and Eo estuary. The main goals of the surveys are to determine the distributional pattern of hake larvae and the factors determining the observed pattern (climatic, oceanographic and foraging) and collecting biological samples in several life stages: from larvae to young of the year recruits. March survey (DRE0317) was divided in two legs. The first one aimed to characterize environmental conditions and larval abundance along 18 transects orthogonal to the coast, covering the whole research area, and summing 114 fixed stations. Each transect was drawn every 8 nautical miles, while the stations within transect was separated every 4 nm. In each station it was performed an oblique Bongo (60 cm, 500 m mesh size), a vertical pairovet (60 and 150 m) and a CTD profile to estimate hake larval abundance, ichthyoplankton community, micro and mesozooplankton and oceanographic parameters, respectively. In addition during this leg an ODI (Ocean Drifter Iridium) buoy with a 50 m drogue was released. The second leg aimed to catch hake postlarvae using IKMT and MIK nets and young of the year recruits using bottom trawl fishing gears (BACA and GOV). An image from every hake larvae collected was recorded and each larva was individually frozen at -80ºC. All other plankton material was preserved in either formalin or in 96º EtOH. A full biological sampling was conducted for juveniles, including measuring size and weight, and removal of otoliths, gonads, stomach and a muscle tissue piece, as well an estimation of the size frequency. A large number of recruits were additionally frozen for later analysis in the laboratory

PES Cruise (29SG20170531) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017, PES Research Project: Pockmarks and fluid escape structures in the Esporão of Extremadura From 31 May to 5 June a team of IPMA researchers participated and coordinated the PES oceanographic campaign, carried out on board the Sarmiento de Gamboa Research Ship. The campaign was integrated into the PES research project: Pockmarks and fluid escape structures in the Esporão of Extremadura: implications for regional geology, biology and oil systems, with funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC / GEO-FIQ / 5162/2014). This cruise departed in Vigo on 31 May and returned to Lisbon on 5 June. In addition to the IPMA researchers (Vitor Magalhaes, Teresa Drago, Ana Isabel Rodrigues and Joana Raimundo), there were also technicians and researchers from the Mission Structure for the Extension of the Continental Platform (EMEPC), University of Aveiro and Instituto Superior Técnico. During this campaign, 270 nautical miles of multi-beam bathymetry, 45 nautical miles of multichannel reflection seismic (with two different systems and complementary resolutions), 21 sampling stations and 1 dive with the Luso ROV (EMEPC) were acquired. New occurrences of pockmarks have been identified in the Esporão of Extremadura, and the data collected will allow characterizing the activity of these structures. This campaign also allowed the successful testing of the AUV Medusa sea, developed under the MEDUSA DEEP SEA (medusadeepsea.com) project of which the IPMA is part, and which culminated with a dive at 1219 m depth thus giving a important step in the design of exploring and mapping the deep sea with Portuguese technology

DREAMER-2 Cruise (29SG20170617) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017, The European hake, Merluccius merluccius L., is one of the most important economical fisheries in the North-East Atlantic that also plays a key role in the marine ecosystem. After the implementation by the EU of various recovery plans for both stocks, the spawning biomass has recently recuperated, after more than two decades under the security limits. However, recruitment remains highly variable, and in the case of the Southern stock (SS) still decreasing. The overall objective of the project is to analyze the causes that determine hake recruitment with special attention to the demographic and environmental causes and focusing in particular in the seasonal differences in the spawning pattern (SS hake shows two spawning peaks, in late winter and late spring-summer), larval distribution, trophic dynamics of larvae, seasonal differences in recruitment and connectivity patterns between stocks. To achieve these objectives the project will carry out two research surveys, in March and June 2017 within the main hake spawning area, between Cape Finisterre and Eo estuary. The main goals of the surveys are to determine the distributional pattern of hake larvae and the factors determining the observed pattern (climatic, oceanographic and foraging) and collecting biological samples in several life stages: from larvae to young of the year recruits. March survey (DRE0317) was divided in two legs. The first one aimed to characterize environmental conditions and larval abundance along 18 transects orthogonal to the coast, covering the whole research area, and summing 114 fixed stations. Each transect was drawn every 8 nautical miles, while the stations within transect was separated every 4 nm. In each station it was performed an oblique Bongo (60 cm, 500 m mesh size), a vertical pairovet (60 and 150 m) and a CTD profile to estimate hake larval abundance, ichthyoplankton community, micro and mesozooplankton and oceanographic parameters, respectively. In addition during this leg an ODI (Ocean Drifter Iridium) buoy with a 50 m drogue was released. The second leg aimed to catch hake postlarvae using IKMT and MIK nets and young of the year recruits using bottom trawl fishing gears (BACA and GOV). An image from every hake larvae collected was recorded and each larva was individually frozen at -80ºC. All other plankton material was preserved in either formalin or in 96º EtOH. A full biological sampling was conducted for juveniles, including measuring size and weight, and removal of otoliths, gonads, stomach and a muscle tissue piece, as well an estimation of the size frequency. A large number of recruits were additionally frozen for later analysis in the laboratory

FLUXES-1 Cruise (29SG20170711) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017, Main goal: to quantify the lateral fluxes of organic matter through a sampling box of stations to estimate the role of POCs and DOC as sources and sinks of carbon in the region of study, compared to primary production, and the gravitational and active fluxes. Duration: 31 days (including navigation to/from Las Palmas) Activities: 38 stations, separated each other 50 nautical miles. An XBT will be dropped between each two stations to gain resolution for the inverse box-model

NSM-2017 Cruise (29SG20170819) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017, It is intended to continue with the work undertaken in the previous cruises carried out in 2015 and 2016 in relation to knowledge of the wreck: - Wreck extension. - State of conservation of materials. - Dispersal of the remains of the Spanish ship. - Continue with the archaeological "mapping". - Advance in the interpretation and analysis of the wreck. - Extraction of the following elements, based on historical-cultural, museographic, conservation, archival and legal motivations: a.- Bronze culverin of the 16th century. Approximate weight: between 2,500 / 3,000 Kg. B.- A "bronze cannon" or "howitzer". Couple of the extracted in 2015. c.- Elements of the spoiled silverware (silver of Chafalonia) that appears in the documentation of the AGI. d.- We will also extract some elements that were filmed in 2015 and whose function we do not know. e.- Depending on the circumstances of the cruise, it is possible that the second culverin of the Mercedes will be extracted

ABIDES-ROV Cruise (29SG20170905) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2017, The ABIDES (Assessment of Bottom-trawling Impacts in DEep-sea Sediments) project focuses on the study of contemporary sedimentary processes associated to the impact of bottom trawling activities on the deep seafloor. The disturbance of deep-sea environments caused by this fishing practice is considered to be notably higher than all other anthropogenic pressures combined, given its intensity, recurrence and wide geographical distribution. Although the impacts of trawling on coastal and shelf environments have been investigated in the past from the sedimentary point of view, up to date, very few studies have addressed the role of this fishing practice on slope environments, where background energy levels controlling natural sedimentary processes are generally low and where the associated benthic ecosystems are less resilient and more vulnerable. Therefore, the main goal of the ABIDES project is to improve our knowledge of the contemporary sediment erosion, transport and accumulation processes driven by this anthropogenic activity, with the aim to assess the magnitude of the associated impacts in continental slope environments and to provide support for mitigation efforts towards the development of sustainable fisheries. During the ABIDES-ROV cruise we have conducted a morphological and seabed habitat characterization of the continental slope regions that have (and have not) been intensively trawled during decades, both at small- and large-scale with the aim to evaluate the “seafloor integrity”. The main study area has been the NW Mediterranean continental margin, where a bottom trawling fishery has been operating for decades and a good knowledge of the current bottom-trawling footprint exists. ROV footage has been used to determine the small-scale morphological changes and the impact caused by trawling gear on the seafloor habitats through direct visual observations; and detailed multibeam bathymetric mapping will be used to identify large-scale morphological changes caused by persistent trawling activities over major fishing grounds of the study area