spain

The Oceana Ranger, our roving catamaran, has discovered deep-sea white coral in the Aviles Canyon in the Bay of Biscay, off the northern coast of Spain. The coral was identified using an underwater robot, which can work down to 600 meters.

The deep-sea coral can take centuries, or even millennia, to form -- some European coral formations are more than 8,000 years old, and their age makes them especially vulnerable. Recent studies estimate that almost half of the deep-sea coral reefs in Europe have disappeared, particularly due to destructive fishing methods such as bottom trawling.

On Sunday, I watched the Euro 2008 final soccer match between Spain and Germany. The game was mostly dominated by the Spaniards and in the end, my colleagues from Madrid celebrated the victory from a Fernando Torres goal in the first half. This year's tournament was great fun to watch, but I noticed something disconcerting from Sunday's closing ceremony.

The crew of the Oceana Ranger had to take an impromptu break late last week when a wild bottlenose dolphin named Gaspar befriended Ranger's ROV.

Gaspar lives among the fjords, or "rias," of Galicia, on Spain's northern coast, and he is something of a local celebrity among the people there. His newfound friendship with the ROV has interrupted the crew's work, but according to what we've heard, everyone is enjoying the distraction.

To view more photo's from the Ranger 2008 expedition, please click here. To donate on behalf of the Ranger 2008 expedition, please click here.