Final ROV Dive to Ile de Goree

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Photos (top to bottom):  photo1:  Will, Damir and Yoel on the bow of the boat headed toward Goree;  photo2:  Damir pop, Colin and the Oceanium boat operator;  photos 4-7:  fisherman haul in a net teeming with sardines.

We made our final ROV dive of the season today with a less than impressive trip by boat to the lee side of Goree.  The conditions were poor, with a stiff off-shore wind, a southeast swell, and visibility reduced to a couple of meters.  Still, we tried.  Colin and I agreed that this was a year of learning, both of us being new to Senegal.  Next fall we would jump start the ROV team, with the knowledge of where to go and how to get there, and with plans for a redesign, the battery on-board, and thrusters controlled by solid state relays.

The weather continues strange this spring.  With the off-shore winds blowing late into the season, as today, the upwelling has continued, and the water is downright chilly, likely around 60 degrees F.   This is sub-Saharan Africa, isn't it supposed to be toasty warm?!

On the way in today we passed a fishing pirogue pulling in their nets, filled with sardines, to be dried and eaten.  Black kites (a bird of prey in this part of Africa) swooped in to snag a fish.  The water was thick with sardines, schooling beneath our boats.  I would love to have had the chance to jump into the water with my camera and dive gear.  Another time.