Dalnie Zelentsy looking for diamonds and sea urchins

Marine habitat mapping and Ocean exploration
Research Vessel Dalnie Zelentsy belonging to Murmansk Marine Biological Institute (Russia) sailed this summer for 16 days to the Barents and the White Sea with an interdisciplinary mission. Biologists and geologists of Kola Scientific centre were looking for assessing resources of sea urchins and... diamonds. Together with MMBI scientists there were specialists from Polar Scientific research Institute for Fishery and Oceanography and from Geological institute of Kola Scientific Centre, - 13 scientists from 3 institutes. First stage of the cruise - assessment of sea urchins abundance as indicators of ecosystem health and evaluation of kelp resources was carried in the nearshore zone of the Barents Sea. The second stage was aimed at evaluating the feasibility of diamond exploration in the mouth of the White Sea. The expedition travelled the total of 700nm along the Kola peninsula, visiting fjords and inlets.
11:58 01.07.2004