In the past decade, Chile has actively promoted the establishment of expansive marine protected areas, including the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park, the Juan Fernández Sea Protected Area, and the Juan Fernández Marine Park. These areas are among the largest marine protected zones globally. The biodiversity in these regions exhibits a remarkable level of endemism, with around … Continued
What does it take to truly see the seafloor? Turns out, you must listen! Researchers on R/V Falkor (too) are testing a sonar system new to scientific seafloor mapping: Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar (InSAS). Combining bathymetric data with acoustic imagery allows scientists to paint an incredibly detailed picture of the seafloor using sound beams. InSAS … Continued
From a delicate box of seashells gifted by her mother, to otherworldly ecosystems at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, Marine Biologist Verena Tunnicliffe has spent more than four decades studying our Ocean. Driven by a passion to understand the nature and functions of novel communities, she shares her experiences working on interdisciplinary teams and how diverse voices … Continued
You can’t see anything at the bottom of the ocean without the help of technology. Sailors originally created seafloor maps using weighted ropes, known as lead lines, that they would throw over the side of ships; the rope went slack when it hit bottom. After recording the depth, the sailors would create rough topographic maps … Continued
Dive into a world of unparalleled natural beauty and biodiversity in this ROV highlight reel from the #CliffReefs expedition. Our awe-inspiring journey took us through two of the most pristine and protected areas in the world, where we were fortunate to document amazing displays of nature’s splendor. The expedition’s multidisciplinary team worked to map and … Continued
A mountain range starts off the coast of Galápagos Islands and ends south of Costa Rica — as part of the Galápagos Marine Reserve, it exists in one of the largest marine protected areas in the world. In this near-pristine underwater habitat, deep-sea corals are extremely important, providing homes for fish, crustaceans and a host … Continued
Traducción al español a continuación The Octopus Odyssey expedition has begun! Our goal is to return to the place where deep-sea octopus were first discovered brooding their eggs in low-temperature hydrothermal fluids venting from a tiny outcrop of rock offshore Costa Rica, at a depth of over 3,000 meters (almost 10,000 feet). In 2013, a … Continued
Tectonic plates are in constant motion, slowly moving along the Earth’s mantle as hot magma circulates below. These slow-moving plates are responsible for the formation of the continents we know today as well as ocean basins. While most ocean basins take around 30 to 80 million years to form, the Gulf of California (GOC) formed … Continued
