01 February 2022
The wind is still holding us to the dock
We won't be leaving La Seyne-sur-Mer today. Departure is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday 02 January.
The current force 6 winds (39 to 49 km/h according to the Beaufort scale) pose no navigational problems for the oceanographic vessel. The Why not? can sail in force 9 winds (72 to 88 km/h) - while restricting professional activities on board to ensure the safety of personnel. On the other hand, daylight conditions prevent launching operations. Research infrastructures such as the Scientific Junction Box or the Nautile submarine weigh several tonnes. These devices require great stability to be handled safely by the crane.
So we're all waiting impatiently for the weather to turn in our favour!
The Bathy Family duo
BathyReef and BathyBot look each other in the eye...
We're counting on BathyBot to follow the colonisation of the BathyReef artificial reef at a depth of 2400m... We'll keep you posted on their launch, as BathyBot will be the first to reach the ocean depths!
Photo Credit: Nicolas Fromont - @nicolasfromontphoto
The design of BathyReef
The BathyReef artificial reef was built by Vicat and biomimetically inspired by Lab Rougerie+Tangram.
But what does biomimetically inspired mean? Biomimicry is where human technology meets biology: it involves designing innovations inspired by living things. This artificial reef has structures similar to the internal tissues of tunicates, a group of filter-feeding marine animals that live attached to a substrate. And why tunicates? Well, because they have tissues that are both very rigid and partitioned. On the one hand, the internal partitions, which make the tissues porous, enable the artificial reef to optimise its colonisable surface area. The greater the surface area that can be colonised, the more life forms it can support. And secondly, the regular arrangement of the partitions makes for a solid structure - an unavoidable parameter for an artificial reef subjected to manipulation and pressure!
Photo credit: Nicolas Fromont - @nicolasfromontphoto