Biological observations from the Dana Expedition Reports

The oceanographic Dana Expedition was led by Johannes Schmidt and financed by the Carlsberg Foundation. After finding the Atlantic breeding grounds for European freshwater eels, Schmidt turn his attention to the Pacific and Indian Oceans with the aim of comparing the pelagic life of the three main oceans.

The vessel chosen for the expedition was the Dana, a former British minesweeper rebuilt by the Danish Government for fisheries research purposes. The Dana was 42.2 m long, 7.2 m broad and a displacement of 360 tons. It carried a steam-driven trawl winch and two hydrographic winches.

The fishing gear consisted primarily of conical nets made of coarsely woven hemp cloth (stramin) and fastened to iron rings with diameters of 150 and 200 cm, supplemented with 300 cm ring nets with larger mesh size.

This data set comprises biological occurrence data that was extracted from the Dana reports. These data consist: of the results of the passage of the R/V Dana through the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans from 1928 to 1930; collecting by various merchant vessels carried out by request of the Dana Committee; other expeditions in the same waters, mainly the Galathea Expedition in 1951-52.