New expedition The island of Malpelo Chris Thompson | April – May, 2018
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Malpelo Island, Colombia.
Photo: Chris Thompson
Geographe and South-west Marine Parks 2020 Expedition
The South-west Corner Marine Park is the largest marine park in the South-west network whilst ...read more
SUMMARY
In April-May of 2018 the marine futures lab was involved in an expedition to Malpelo Island, Colombia aboard the Undersea Hunter vessel, Argo. The expedition was led by National Geographic Pristine Seas in collaboration with Fundacion Malpelo and Parques Colombia.
Multiple sampling teams conducted comprehensive sampling from the shallows surrounding the island down to the deep sea and to the blue waters surrounding it. Divers conducted Underwater Visual Census’ of the fish life and invertebrates on the islands walls, a technical dive team surveyed the mesophotic zone from 50-100m, the Deep See submersible conducted surveys down to 400m with multiple sighting of the smalltooth sand tiger shark (Odontaspis ferox), the National Geographic deep DropCam sampled deeper waters and the pelagic assemblages surrounding the island were assessed using mid-water baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS).
The reserve area surrounding Malpelo was bustling with pelagic wildlife, with bait balls, schools of yellowfin tuna, bottlenose dolphins, large numbers of hammerhead, Galapagos and silky sharks and even whale sharks observed.
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Highlight clip
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SHARKS AND TUNAS
Large aggregations of Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), Yellowfin tuna (Thunnuas albacares) and Silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) were observed in the surrounding waters of Malpelo.
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DeepSea submersible
Descending the waters off Malpelo Island the DeepSea submersible captured a
smalltooth sand tiger shark (Odontaspis ferox)
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Frogfish
Giant frogfish (Antennarius commerson)
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BRUVS
Mid-water BRUVS deployed in the waters off Malpelo Island.
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Seabirds
The waters surrounding the island support a large colony of Nazcar Boobies (Sula granti)
FUNDING & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This expedition was undertaken aboard the Undersea Hunter vessel, Argo. A National Geographic Pristine Seas project in collaboration with Fundacion Malpelo and Parques Colombia.