Our journey begins on October 6, 2023, at the Cabanga Yacht Club in Recife. On this expedition, we traveled aboard the sailboat Touché, under the command of Gabriel De Capitani. The Touché is a 44-foot ocean-going sailboat with the capacity to accommodate up to eight crew members on board. We soon carried out our first trawl on top of the Virgo wreck, where we have also collected colonies of sun coral - Meet the Expedition.
An important point is that during the drags we were always attached to safety cables connected to the boat. Over time, we got further and further away from the mainland and sailed towards Salvador, our first stop. At that moment, our eyes could only see the sea.
The first two days were for the team to adapt. We need to get used to doing everything on the move and we get very tired when we're busy with theoretically "normal" things like walking, bathing, trawling for plankton and feeding. After that, we had adapted and, along the way, we were surrounded by breathtaking scenery.
Collections were entirely dependent on wind changes, resulting in variations in the times and number of collections made per day/night. In addition to the predetermined points, we standardize a trawl every 50 nautical miles between each collection.
After four days sailing, we arrived in Salvador. Our team took the opportunity to collect sun coral colonies at the site, as it is the northernmost point where Tubastraea have been recorded in natural substrates.
After sending all the material to the transport company, we went for a stroll in Pelourinho, walked along the colorful hillsides and, of course, took a bath on dry land. The crew bought supplies to stock up the boat and we spent the night at the pier so that we could continue our journey the next day.
It was another two days on the high seas before we reached the paradise called Abrolhos. Between October 11 and 12, we carried out four trawls and, due to the expected cold front, we took shelter in the archipelago. We arrived at dawn and were treated to a breathtaking sunrise. We had to stay at anchor for the 13th and took the opportunity to dive, take lots of photos and visit the lighthouse.
The next day, we went diving on the Siriba and Redonda Islands and, after a whole day in the water, we were once again surprised. While we were getting everything ready to set sail and enjoy another sunset, we realized that it was the day of a rare solar eclipse. We stopped everything, thanked her, jumped into the sea and enjoyed this gift from nature.
The days went by and we continued down the coast towards Vitória. During this period of the trip, the weather changed and we experienced a lot of cold and rain. The collections were in full swing, the team adapted and, more and more, things were happening automatically.
Before we knew it, we were in Arraial do Cabo, another beautiful place where our team went to collect colonies. We stopped for a while and went down once more to replenish the boat with food and diesel and continue on the final stretch.
On October 20, we arrived at Ilha Grande and collected samples inside the islands and in front of a shipyard. This region, in particular, is known to be infested by these species. From there, in the fog and cold, we continued our journey to our final stop at the Pindá marina in Ilhabela.
So, at the end of this expedition, we had covered precisely 1,330.80 nautical miles, which corresponds to 2,464.64 kilometers. Each trawl resulted in four replicas that were kept at room temperature until they arrived at our laboratory in Rio de Janeiro.
During the 16 days on board, 31 trawls were carried out, corresponding to 124 samples. All the trawl points were strategically selected based on the hydrodynamic modeling results. This approach specifically aimed to cover critical areas for the dispersal of larvae, as indicated in the modeling studies.
Thus, the integration of data from environmental sampling, hydrodynamic modeling and biological sampling will provide a comprehensive overview of the distribution, movement and potential establishment of Tubastraea spp. along the Brazilian coast.
Collecting throughout the various sea conditions on board a sailboat was a novelty for the whole team. New sensations, seasickness, collecting at dawn in heavy rain or during the day in bright sunshine. We learned how to get around on the boat, socialize, work and cook, and so 16 days of adventure passed. Physical fatigue was overcome at every sunset with beautiful images that our eyes will never forget. The internet/wifi signal has been replaced by an immersion in contact with nature, making these expeditions an experience that everyone will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Karine Venegas Macieira
