EXPEDITION "ESPER"

Here we are finally. Our underwater exploration has just started.
Our delay is due to the hard time we had to get hold of the diving equipment shipped from Brussels by air cargo. The Peruvian customs are not easy to handle. We spent 7 hours at the airport on Monday 17th, filling forms, dealing with officials, unpacking/repacking our 239 kg of equipment. Finally after a stop at the bank… everything was ready to take out… the next day, since it was too late to re-enter the warehouse.

Here are the boxes of the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences being finally delivered at the customs in Lima

We still had to complete our equipment before taking the road. We first rent a pick-up (that made the largest hole in our budget). Then, on Tuesday night we collected Eduardo at the airport.
On Wednesday Philippe progressed through his driving training through Lima (a real corrida) to reach the unique diving shop in Peru and purchase diving weights. We also had to build up an oxygen diving rescue kit (No DAN equipment available here). Without the help of Yuri, shopping in Lima would never have been possible.

Finally on Thursday we had completed our first tank fillings and were ready for our first immersions. Pucusana, one hour south of Lima was our target as training before the real things would start north.
As the ESPER Proyecto is not just a collecting trip, but also an educational project, in the frame of the Belgian cooperation to the development of Peru, several students will have the opportunity to participate to the field work.
Rodrigo Castro from UPCH (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia) was the first one.

We left Lima in the afternoon of Friday 21 with more than 500 kg of equipment.

Eduardo Hajdu and Rodrigo Castro with our pick-up ready to leave Lima

Our first contact with the ocean at Pucusuana

The first sponges of our expedition collected in Pucusana

Eduardo and Yuri ready for another immersion

Philippe seen through low visibility water

Unloading the equipment after a dive in Bahia Tortuga

Thursday September 27
We are on our way since almost a week by now and have reached Trujillo after several stop-overs.
Chancay was our first base, from where we had to dive in Ancon. Unfortunately the weather was too windy, the Ocean too rough to dive and we decided to head further north.
Casma “Ciudad del Eterno sol” was reached Saturday 22 at night. Katherine Altamirano from UNMSM (Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos) , the second student joined us for four days. Considering the amount of equipment, the places where we stay need to have rooms at ground level and if possible an area where to rinse the diving gear, install the noisy compressor at night in order to charm our guests for at least 2 hours… The Hotel ”El Farol” was the ideal place where to stay to reach different sites during the following days.

Sunday 23: North of Casma. Two shallow dives in Bahia Tortuga. Easy departure from the beach.

Eduardo entering the water in Bahia Tortuga

Monday 24: Bahia Samanco. Two dives in Punta Ansumo and Caleta Colorado.
It wasn’t easy to reach the sea, the road through the dunes had been covered by a thick layer of sand. Right time to appreciate the four wheel drive!



Tuesday 25: Chimbote. Two dives in Islote Ferrol and Isla Blanca. The harbor is a busy place with hundreds of fishing boats. Luckilly Yuri has worked with IMARPE (Instituto del Mar del Peru) in the past where we were welcome to get dressed and leave the truck safely.

Embarking the diving equipment in Chimbote

A Haplosclerid sponge to be identified later in the lab

Yuri would like to find a sponge as big as that... may be soon!

No, Katherine hasn't been sick!

The boat was just covered all over with guano...

Every time we need to dive, we have to find the help from fishermen willing to rent us their boat.

So far our dives were conducted smoothly, although a strong swell makes it rather difficult to take photographs and collect specimens. Quite often we roll upside down, or we are pushed several meters away from our target.

Thursday 26: After packing and loading the truck we reached Trujillo at night, where we are presently hosted by Yuri’s parents. This will be our base for the next two days of underwater exploration.

The main observation after a few immersions is that in this region the sponge biodiversity is rather low. Two or three Calcarea species and less than 10 species of demosponges. Hopefully we will find a larger number of species once we reach the Islas Lobos de Afuera in a few days. From there we will be unable to reach Internet and you will have to wait for the next episodes of our adventure.

Clathrina sp, a Calcarea sponge