News and Activities
Startup meeting in Tórshavn, Faroes (12-01-2016)
The startup meeting of the NovasArc project was carried out at FMRI, on January 12-14, 2016.
The report is available here.
Meeting in Bergen, Norway (22-11-2016)
The second meeting of the NovasArc project was carried out at IMR on November 21-23, 2016.
The report is available here.
Meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland (30-01-2017)
The third meeting of the NovasArc project was carried out at MFRI on January 30-February 3, 2017.
The report is available here.
Presentations at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland (02-02-2017)
As part of the meeting in Reykjavík, a series of presentations were given to present the project’s objectives, methodology and data sources to the researchers at MFRI:
NovasArc: Nordic Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems and anthropogenic activities in sub-Arctic and Arctic waters by Lene Buhl-Mortensen.
NovasArc - Contribution from the Institute of Marine Research, Norway by Pål Buhl-Mortensen and Lene Buhl-Mortensen.
NovasArc project - the Icelandic contribution by Steinunn H. Ólafsdóttir, Julian M. Burgos and Stefán Á. Ragnarsson.
Bycatch of corasls, etc. in Faroese waters by Pétur Steingrund.
Cruise participation (21-02-2017)
Hjalti Karlsson (MFRI) participated in a cruise on board the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. The objective of this participation was to exchange knowledge on the technological aspects of marine habitat mapping.
Habitat Mapping Cruise in the Faroe Islands (15-6-2017)
For the first time the Faroe Marine Research Institute carried out a cruise to obtain video material from benthic habitats off the Faroe Islands. A total of 60 video transects were carried out at depths between 100 and 350 m. The stony coral Lophelia pertusa was observed in five dives, while soft bottom sponge aggregations were observed in 24 dives. The video camera and cable used in this survey was a contribution of the NovasArc project to the Faroe Marine Research Institute.
The cruise report (in Faroese) is available here.
The stony coral Lophelia pertusa observed on Faroese waters.
Habitat Mapping Cruise in Iceland (30-6-2017)
The Marine and Freshwater research institute carried out a habitat mapping survey between June 30 and July 7. A total of 55 underwater video transects were carried out on three areas of the western Iceland shelf. Six dives were also carried out in Tálknafjörður, on the Westfjords.
The cruise obtained valuable information for the NovasArc project, including the first confirmed observations of Lophelia pertusa off western Iceland, and the identification of areas with high diversity of soft corals and sponges on the shelf break west of Víkural.
During the cruise the scientific crew maintained a blog: https://hafsbotninn.wordpress.com/
High diversity of soft corals and sponges observed on the shelf break west of Víkural.
Meeting in Tórshavn, Faroes (20-11-2017)
The fourth meeting of the NovasArc project was carried out at FMRI on November 20-24, 2017.
The report is available here.