By Javier Sellanes
Centro Científico ESMOI – Facultad de Ciencias del Mar – Universidad Católica del Norte
Aerial view of the Falkor (too) and ROV deployment
at the start of dive 640 – Photo © Alex Ingle
In 2018, we submitted one of the first proposals to the Schmidt Ocean Institute to conduct this expedition; it was approved in 2019, and we all know what happened globally thereafter in 2020. In the meantime, the Institute decided to change its ship, the Falkor, for a larger one, the Falkor (too), which had its inaugural voyage in the first months of 2023, departing t o cross the Atlantic from the shipyard where it was outfitted in Vigo, Spain. After crossing to the Pacific and conducting expeditions in Costa Rica and Ecuador, the Falkor (too) inaugurated its 2024 season in Chile with the expedition “Seamounts of the Southeast Pacific,” from January 8 to February 11.
In this expedition, we visited 10 seamounts of the Nazca and Juan Fernández ridges, three of which are located in international waters, three in the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park and Chilean jurisdictional waters, one in jurisdictional waters without any form of protection, two in the Juan Fernández Seamounts Park, and two in the Multiple-Use Marine Protected Area of the Juan Fernández Sea.
With this, we aim to cover and compare environments and biological communities in a series of seamounts with contrasting geographic and conservation characteristics. The latter aims to assess possible anthropogenic effects on them, for example, related to marine debris and trawling fishing activities. In broad terms, the objectives of this expedition were to identify longitudinal and depth biogeographic limits for biological communities down to the iconic 2000-meter depths of these seamounts (e.g., corals and sponges) and to evaluate possible drivers (e.g., topography, circulation, and fine to large-scale water column parameters) of observed biological patterns and ecological interactions.
Additionally, and no less importantly, with this cruise, we aim to generate outreach results for the community and decision-makers, thus increasing awareness and promoting the conservation of these globally unique environments.
We had high hopes for this expedition, and they were certainly fulfilled. In fact, I am pleased to say that our findings exceeded our expectations. You always hope to find new species in these remote and unexplored areas, but the quantity we found, especially for some groups like sponges, is amazing. A preliminary count and quick estimation suggest something like at least 50 new species for science.
Control screens during the first dive (643)
at the “Solito” seamount
From an aesthetic point of view, the shapes and colors we observed are supernatural. During each ROV dive, we saw fascinating organisms. When the ROV descended, we could observe semi-transparent and bioluminescent planktonic organisms such as jellyfish and siphonophores, even octopuses and squids. When we reached the bottom (1000 or 2000 meters), sponges, different types of corals, crustaceans, stars, sea urchins, and fishes of various sizes, shapes, and colors appeared.
It is also worth noting that, except for some exceptions and mainly in the seamounts off the Chilean jurisdiction or in marine parks, the biological communities appear very pristine, highlighting the importance of implementing early conservation plans.
As a team, we are very happy to have been able to exchange knowledge between scientists from different parts of the world. In addition, sharing with the community representatives of Juan Fernández, Marco Pérez, Pablo Lorca, and Manuel Chamorro, as part of this expedition, was truly an enriching experience for the entire Falkor (too) crew.
The results obtained in this first expedition on the Nazca and Juan Fernández ridges portend surprising findings for the expedition currently underway on the Salas & Gómez ridge, where four representatives of the Rapa Nui community also are part of the team aboard the Falkor (too). Remember that each ROV dive into the depths can be followed live on the Schmidt Ocean Institute YouTube channel.>
The participation of scientists from different parts of the world, the involvement of communities, and all these scientific findings rekindle our enthusiasm and eagerness to contribute to the knowledge of this valuable yet largely unexplored corner of the ocean planet.
YouTube Channel
Schmidt Ocean Institute
