The Ranger: Overview
Ranger is a vital piece of Oceana’s campaign work in Europe. Custom-built in 1986 as a hospital ship, Ranger was donated to Oceana by board member Steve McAllister.
Since then, its crews have sailed from the Pacific to the Mediterranean doing invaluable research and documenting illegal fishing.
With the help of Ranger, Oceana is able to document vulnerable marine habitat, discover new and rare species, document illegal fishing, take samples, evaluate the damages to the marine environment and more, all with the goal of achieving policy victories for the seas.
Since its first expedition in 2005, Oceana has achieved multiple victories with the help of Ranger’s on-the-water presence. Ranger set sail in spring 2008 to learn more about the Spanish seafloor, document illegal bottom trawling and promote the creation of new marine protected areas.
Using an underwater robot that can dive down to 600 meters, Ranger made several exciting species discoveries on the Spanish seafloor. In the Bay of Biscay, the team discovered an ancient deep-sea white coral ecosystem in the Aviles Canyon. The find was particularly significant because recent studies estimate that almost half of the deep-sea coral reefs in Europe have disappeared, due in part to destructive bottom trawling.
As a result of Ranger’s expeditions and findings, the Spanish government has committed to declaring six new marine protected areas in the waters surrounding Spain.
In summer 2009, Ranger sailed to the Canary Islands.
