Trawling at Twilight

 Award: Semi-finalist Prize, Images of Research Competition 2017
Trawling at Twilight
Submitted by:Curtis Dinn
Faculty/DepartmentBiological Sciences
Place of creation: Baffin Bay

A deep sea (1148m) Agassiz trawl is returning to the deck of the CCGS Amundsen during a cruise in the Arctic. This trawl was targeted at sampling benthic epifauna near reported black coral habitat. My research goals are to describe the diversity of sponges in the Eastern Canadian Arctic and Subarctic. Trawls like this allow the collection of a variety of sponge specimens which can be identified through morphology and molecular analyses. This trawl occurred near midnight, yet the sun rarely sets at this latitude causing a vibrant sky reflected in motionless waters.