Location
Red Sea
Partners
Bloomberg Philanthropies' Vibrant Oceans Initiative
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
Release Date
November 2020
Location
Red Sea
Partners
Bloomberg Philanthropies' Vibrant Oceans Initiative
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
Release Date
November 2020
On the ship’s maiden mission, an unrivaled team of oceanographers and scientists set out to answer one question: How do species in the Red Sea thrive where others would die?
Overview
The Red Sea is one of Earth’s best natural laboratories, with extreme water temperatures and high salinity and a range of habitats rarely found elsewhere on the planet. It’s here that Earth is conducting evolutionary experiments that can teach us how to protect coral reefs and marine species all over the world. Under-explored and incredibly diverse, the Red Sea was the perfect place to put OceanXplorer’s incredible technology to the test on a mission spanning marine science disciplines and venturing from the shoreline to the deep.
Findings
The timing couldn’t be more critical, with sea temperatures rising and coral bleaching devastating vital ecosystems worldwide. But in just a few weeks, this first-of-its-kind multidisciplinary evaluation has uncovered groundbreaking discoveries:
- Abundant sightings of megafauna, including species previously undocumented in the Red Sea
- Multiple sites with thriving, climate-change resistant corals
- Unique geological features and samples that date more than 50,000 years old.
