SERPENT Scene |
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The Newsletter of the SERPENT project |
December 2009 Issue 19 |
Hi, welcome to the new format SERPENT Scene. If you want to subscribe to the newsletter please send us a request using our feedback form.Subscribing to SERPENT Scene will make sure you’re getting up to date information about the project and our findings from the deep oceans - arguably the largest and least understood ecosystem on Earth, brought to you by just about the most innovative partnership between scientists and the oil and gas industry on the planet. We hope you’ll continue to enjoy reading about what we’ve been up to. Please note that you can print just this Newsletter without the rest of the page. Go to print preview in your browser menu to see what we mean. |
CONTENTSSERPENT missionsTotal and the Usan Field, Nigeria Outreach & ConferencesGulf SERPENT newsletter available |
Mission NewsSERPENT visits the Usan Field, Nigeria and the Faroe-Shetland ChannelTotal at Usan Field, NigeriaAt present there is very little information on the seafloor communities of the Gulf of Guinea region and Nigeria is particularly poorly explored. SERPENT was lucky enough to be able to carry out another visit to this region through Total E&P Nigeria and the Total Foundation for Biodiversity and the Sea, this time to the deep-water Usan field 100 miles south of Port Harcourt. This multidisciplinary SERPENT expedition made assessments of the biodiversity of Usan focussing on the large animals (megafauna) of the seabed and the plankton. We used the ROV to carry out a very detailed, quantitative assessment of the effects of slope on the larger animals visible in the ROV video footage. We were also able to investigate the seabed sediments and physical conditions of the water column. We made trap collections of scavengers at Usan including a new species of amphipod. The video we obtained also showed the presence of several other likely new species of large seabed anemones. We worked in conjunction with two Nigerian research institutes on the project and were joined for the expedition by Prof. Alex Ugwumba from the University of Ibadan and Dr Adesina Adegbie from the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, Lagos. This work has provided valuable data and samples for analysis in Nigerian laboratories. |
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Shell at South Uist2 - 7 August 2009 |
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Hurricane Exploration’s Lancaster well21 – 28 August 2009 Organisms attracted to the baited trap on the seabed at Lancaster included European ling (Molva molva) and cod (Gadus morhua). |
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Gulf SERPENT’s latest newsletterMark Benfield has been busy as usual but still found the time to get the latest version of the Gulf SERPENT newsletter out. Read all about the fascinating missions he’s been working on recently.
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Outreach and Conference NewsIt’s been a busy summer and we’ve been lucky enough to show off SERPENT and our partnerships in a wide range of exciting and prestigious venues. OutreachThomas Hardye School Science festival. Conferences & TalksDr Andrew Gates at the Biodiversidade Bacia de Santos (Biodiversity of the Santos Basin) Conference in Rio, SA. |
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