Construction of the new flat trawl prototype is complete and it’s ready to go to sea! As you can see in the photo, the sides and net aperture are hinged so that they fold inward for easy storage and portability. We will have three trawl designs to compare during the voyage.
In a nutshell, here are our goals for the upcoming 29-day expedition from Rio de Janiero, Brazil to Cape Town, South Africa aboard the Sea Dragon.
1. Compare the performance of three trawl designs (max efficient speed, stability and consistency at capturing sea surface)
2. Conduct two surface tows each day using the manta trawl ( target is 50 samples)
3. Collect fish for POPs analysis using hi-speed trawl at night (Chelsea Rochman will lead this area of research)
4. Collect samples of plastic marine pollution for POPs analysis (samples will be collected and transported to Lorena Rios for analysis)
The Sea Dragon is gearing up to leave Angra dos Reis on Monday 8th. Follow the journey here!