R/V Håkon Mosby in Lysefjorden. photos: K.Kongshavn

We’ve spent the past couple of  days out on the big ole’ blue, sampling along the south-western coast of Norway for bristle worms, worm molluscs, bubble snails and fish on board the research vessel “Håkon Mosby”.

We went from Bergen down to Lysefjorden in Rogaland, and had a highly productive trip. In total we sampled 30 stations using various kinds of gear (epibenthic sled, grab, net, trawl and triangular dredge) to capture our target animals.

This is a region that we have very little material from, and what we do have has been sampled in a way that makes it unsuitable for genetic work – so we went out to remedy that. Now the work begins with sorting and identifying the animals – but we already know that we have found some of the species that we were hunting for – so the cruise was definitely a success, and the scenery and weather made for a wonderful bonus!

Grab

Netting for fish in the littoral zone

Collecting in the littoral zone

Lab work onboard

No cruise without mud! This pile yielded three of the tiny snails one of our researchers was after; success!

Sorting in the lab

Trawl catch

RP-sledge in the sunset

Emptying the triangular dredge