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August 12, 2010

Thursday, August 12, 2010

BY: Dustin Cranor

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© OCEANA / Eduardo Sorensen

 

The Oceana Latitude is now anchored off the coast of Key West for the first leg of its two-month expedition.

On our long voyage from Fort Lauderdale, we spotted a lot of sargassum floating on the surface of the water. It’s sad to imagine that this floating seaweed is at risk in the Gulf of Mexico because it provides essential habitat for marine animals in the open ocean.

We also had our first interaction with something other than flying fish. As we made our way into shallow waters, dolphins begin surrounding the bow of the ship. They continued entertaining the crew by swimming and eating small fish around the boat for hours.

Oceana also took part in the first activity of the expedition, catching and examining small fish. After allowing the fish traps to soak in the water, marine scientist Margot Stiles quickly identified several small critters, including baby lobsters, shrimp, crabs and squid.

Here’s Oceana marine scientist Margot Stiles: