An international expedition has chosen the Canary Island of Tenerife to search in the deepest depths of the ocean for new animal and plant species that remain hidden under the sea. The mission, called Ocean Census, financed by the Nippon Foundation and Nekton consortium, has the ambitious objective of creating a new and more exhaustive encyclopedia of the marine life of the Archipelago against the clock, before the climate crisis destroy them.
It is estimated that between one and two million species inhabit our ocean. However, between 75 and 90% remains hidden in the most inhospitable areas of the sea. In this context is born Ocean Census to try to prevent the massive loss of species that they don’t even know each other. “There is still much to discover, the ocean is where life originated and we have to understand, before it is too late, what task each of these key pieces of the marine ecosystem performs,” says biologist Alex Rogers, scientific director of the expedition, which remembers that the ocean is indivisibly linked to society: “it provides us with food and regulates the climate.”
The work on the coast of Radazul began just a few days ago, on November 27, but was presented this morning taking advantage of the beginning of the Conference of Parties (COP) 28to convey the urgency of acting in the face of this crisis “that goes beyond the climate change”, as reported by Rogers.
In the coastal town this international group of researchers have begun auscultate the area, with a wide deployment of divers and the help of a Pisces IV type submarine, in search of new vital signs in the deep ocean. “We have already found some species that could potentially be new to science,” Rogers noted. And although all these specimens must be properly studied in the laboratory before being considered new, these first findings reaffirm the decision to choose the Canary Islands as the place to begin this expedition. “We knew that this place was home to many more species than other archipelagos in Macaronesia,” Rogers recalled.
The MUNA, the ULL and the IEO participate in this international expedition
The expert knew this not only because of his contacts with some of the Canarian institutions that also participate in this expedition – such as the Museum of Natural Sciences of Tenerife (MUNA), the ECOMAR research group of the University of La Laguna and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO)–, but also for his first-hand experience in the Islands. “Years ago, I started my advanced diving training right here,” the researcher recalled.
Tenerife has thus become the first stop of this global initiative committed to accelerate the discovery and protection of ocean life. “Ocean Census “It is a project never seen before and the Canarian society should be grateful for having been chosen to carry out a scientific project like this,” said Mariano Hernández Zapata, Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands, who has also shown his full support. to this initiative.
In fact, just four days ago the Government of the Canary Islands declared this taxonomic research on the marine fauna of the Canary Islands of general interest. “These projects are appreciated because they provide us with knowledge to be able to continue advancing in the conservation of our species,” he highlighted.
Not in vain all the information collected by this mission until next December 17 will be delivered to the Government of the Canary Islands to help develop marine conservation plans more in line with what resides in the depths of the sea. The new specimens discovered, for their part, will be guarded by the MUNA, which is one of the few places where the new species described by science can be deposited as it is a public institution.
The data collected will be transferred to the Government of the Canary Islands so that it can develop new conservation plans.
“The information they collect is very relevant because until now not much direct sampling has been done beyond 50 meters deep,” explains MUNA biologist Alejandro de Vera, who actively collaborates with the international research team. The IEO has indeed gone further – up to 2,000 meters – thanks to its expeditions around the Islands thanks to the oceanographic vessel Ángeles Alvariño and its onboard robot capable of taking images and samples of the seabed. However, “in this case, the largest species within sensitive habitats have been prioritized, such as sponges and large corals, given that it is one of the objectives set by the Ministry of Science, explains Pablo Martín-Sosa, IEO researcher.
This expedition, therefore, will not only be able to reach an unexplored area (the submarine will descend to 300 meters), but it will also be able to find smaller and probably unknown species. The submersible will be deployed at various points near the Radazul coast, reaching up to 300 meters deep, while the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy will navigate through shallower waters around the volcanic coast of Tenerife.
“Dives are scheduled in up to five points on the island: Radazul, Montaña Roja, Abades, Playa San Juan and Anaga,” explains Leopoldo Moro, scientific co-leader of the expedition and technician of the Biodiversity Service of the Government of the Canary Islands. “Initiatives such as the Ocean Census program are essential to promote knowledge that is essential to help nations carry out sustainable policies with marine life,” highlights Moro.
The species are currently being transferred to the IEO laboratories in the Canary Islands, in the port of San Andrés, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. However, the idea is to deploy laboratories inside state-of-the-art containers to study them in more depth and to create “a digital copy of the species using cyber-taxonomy.” to discover ocean life with speed and scale,” as Rogers explains.
“It is very important that exhaustive studies be carried out on the species because there is a lot of morphological variety that can confuse and believe that you are facing a new species,” highlights Marcos González, an IEO scientist who has also immersed himself and lived the experience firsthand. to discover the sea in a submarine. “I thought I was going to get more overwhelmed inside the submarine, but once you’re in there seeing the ecosystem so clearly, you can only think about that,” he highlights.
This intense 23-day mission will culminate in a species discovery workshop with leading experts from the Ocean Census Science Network, including distinguished taxonomists from the Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC), National Center for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), the University of Barcelona and the Ceuta Sea Museum Foundation.
With an emphasis on immersive storytelling, Ocean Census will share the day-to-day life of the expedition and its discoveries with the world, thus trying to close the gap between scientific research and society through real and objective images and narratives. The story of this mission will be told by Tenerife’s own scientists and by the Ocean Census production team, who will broadcast their findings daily with the aim of creating, in the future, free resources for schools and students.
