Archive for March, 2008

Mar 14 2008

A striped iceberg

Published by admin under Stories from the sea

The post about the “marbled iceberg” got a lot of attention. Here is a new post about an icebergs in the Antarctic Ocean. This time the focus is on a striped iceberg. At first I thought that a part of the iceberg was split, but the dark blue stripe is actually a part of the iceberg.

Striped iceberg

A closer look at the photo (see below) shows that the dark stripe seems to be made of frozen water.

Striped iceberg

I guess that the dark stripe must have been horizontal when it was made. Below you can see a picture of another iceberg with a dark stripe. Photos: Øyvind Tangen.

Photo of iceberg

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Mar 12 2008

The power of the bluefin tuna

Published by admin under Fish and fishing, Fishing history

The northern bluefin tuna (thynnus thynnus) is made for speed. The bluefin tuna is one of the fastest fish in the sea and this makes the tuna an attractive target for anglers. In this post I want to show you some photos taken off the coast of Norway (1970 – 1980). Due to decades of overfishing the bluefin tuna is no longer present along the Norwegian coast. These photos focus on the power of this big fish.

Powerful bluefin tuna

The photo above is taken in 1970. A tuna seiner has trapped a shoal of bluefin tuna. The seine is hauled, but one of the tuna causes problems for the fishermen. The crew tries to free the tuna in order to continue hauling the seine.

Tuna fishing

The tuna is trapped. The big fish tries to escape, but the strong seine stops them.

Trapped bluefin tuna

The photos on this page are taken in the summer time. Still the crew is dressed as if it was raining. By looking at the photos you’ll understand why. The battle with the trapped tuna was wetter than a shower. The photos below are from july 1980. The bluefin tuna need to swim in order to get enough oxygen – provided by the constant flow of water being filtrated by their gills. When trapped in a seine – unable to swim – the lack of oxygen will make the tuna calm (unconscious). Then it is time to get the tuna on board.

Tuna fishing

A big bluefin tuna

More photos and information about the former bluefin tuna fishery in Norway can be found on these posts: The first catch of bluefin tuna using seine i Norway – 1926 and Fishing bluefin tuna. Photos on this page: Edvin Bakkevik and Arne Saltskår.

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Mar 10 2008

Humpback whales in the Antarctic Ocean

Published by admin under Sea mammals

Here are two more photos from the Antarctic Ocean. The Norwegian research vessel “G.O.Sars” continues its survey in the south. A couple of days ago the vessel got company. Two curious humpback whales approached the vessel and started to circled around it.

Humback whal

The humpback whale is a baleen whale, and known to be a singing whale. The research vessel uses sonar to examine the bottom and to register fish and krill. The whales can hear the sound from the sonar, and the curious whales may have been attracted by these strange sounds. As you can see the humpback whales came real close.Humpback whales

Photos: Øyvind Tangen

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Mar 03 2008

A marbled iceberg

Published by admin under Stories from the sea

Here is a post with no fish or fishing. The Norwegian research vessel “G.O.Sars” is now on a survey in the Antarctic Ocean. The vessel started the survey in Cape Town and then headed south. After days of sailing in the same flat and wet “landscape”, something special was observed. The crew spotted an iceberg, but it did not look like an ordinary iceberg.

Iceberg. Photo: A Fish Blog

The iceberg seemed to be marbled. The iceberg had dark stripes or layers in between. Is it made by ice crystals with different density, or ice with different density of salt? Are the dark layers made of ice with ash; proof of volcanic activity thousand of years ago? Maybe some readers know the answer? The photos were taken by Øyvind Tangen two days ago.

Iceberg

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