MapGES 2020

Mapping deep-sea biodiversity and “Good Environmental Status” in the Azores

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MapGES 2020

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Mapping deep-sea biodiversity and “Good Environmental Status” in the Azores

Location: Graciosa, Terceira and south Faial (Central Azores EEZ)

Year: 2020

99 stations

99 dives

1380 km transits

8 areas visited

AZORES DEEP-SEA RESEARCH

Summary

Mapping deep-sea biodiversity and “Good Environmental Status” in the Azores

The MapGES 2020 survey was divided into 3 different legs, which were planned to explore different areas of the Azores archipelago around the central group of islands. Overall, 99 dives were accomplished in 8 different underwater features, which included 6 shallow seamounts and 2 island slopes. Leg 1 aimed to survey the slopes and small seamounts around the island of Graciosa and Ilha Azul seamount. This was the first time that the whole Azor drift-cam system was moved between islands using a regular ferry line and also the first full survey on board a local fishing vessel. 32 dives were successfully completed on the slopes of Graciosa and 4 dives in Ilha Azul seamount, covering more than 17 km of the seabed. Leg 2 also aimed to survey deep-sea areas on the northern side of the central group. After 7 days of work on board the RV Arquipélago, 5 different seamounts were explored (Ilha Azul, Mar da Fortuna, Serreta and João Leonardes seamounts), as well as the slopes on the western side of Terceira Island, popularly named Serreta. Thirty-seven dives were accomplished, covering more than 20 linear km of seabed. In leg 3, we explored two underwater features south of Faial and Pico Islands. 26 dives were accomplished, 13 in Condor de Fora and 13 in Baixo de São Mateus seamounts, adding an extra 13.3 km of seabed surveyed.

MapGES 2020 aimed to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) using the Azor drift-cam system. The system was deployed both from the fishing vessel Galinha and from the RV Arquipélago, from the University of the Azores. The objectives of this cruise were to (i) map benthic communities inhabiting unexplored seamounts, ridges and island slopes, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem definition; and (iii) determine distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The results of this cruise contributed to identifying the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. It also provided valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and provide new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems.

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Statistics

Transits
1380 km
Multibeam Bathymetry
0 km²
Filmed Seabed
50 km
Visited Areas
8
Stations
99
Dives
99
Video Footage Recorded
74 hours
Used Storage
5.23 Tb
Samples
0
— No samples were collected

Highlights

  1. Successfully perform a 10-day survey with the Azor drift-cam on board a local fishing vessel not based in Faial Island, with dives to almost 800 m depth. This achievement demonstrates the remarkable capacity of this tool to rapidly assess the diversity of deep-sea benthic communities from small local vessels and be moved between areas with ease.
  2. Accomplishment of almost 100 new underwater video transects between 100 and 800 m depth, most of them in areas of the Azores that had never been explored before and for which no information regarding the composition of its benthic communities was available.
  3. On the slopes of Graciosa Island, we found dense and diverse coral gardens, most of which were dominated by 4 different species of octocorals that displayed different densities across areas. A high proportion of the corals observed in these aggregations displayed large sizes and showed very few signs of being impacted by fishing activities. Massive sponges of the genus Characella were also commonly observed throughout the whole area, although never seen forming dense aggregations.
  4. In general, we discovered several areas with diverse coral gardens and sponge grounds that may fit the FAO criteria to be considered Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs).
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Location of operation

Graciosa, Terceira and south Faial (Central Azores EEZ)

AZORES DEEP-SEA RESEARCH © CRUISES

Stations

MapGES 2020

Leg Period Days at sea Vessel Departure Return
1 22/08/2020 - 31/08/2020 10 FV Galinha Graciosa Graciosa
2 24/09/2020 - 01/10/2020 8 RV Arquipélago Horta Horta
3 14/10/2020 - 14/10/2020 1 FV Tatiana Horta Horta
4 20/11/2020 - 26/11/2020 7 RV Arquipélago Horta Horta

A total of 26 days at sea

Activities

Video survey (Azor Drift-Cam)

Scientific crew

Gerald H. Taranto
Laurence Fauconnet

Collaborators

Marina Carreiro-Silva
MapGES 2020 Cruise Report: Exploration of Azores deep-sea habitats, summer 2020
Zenodo
|
Dec, 2020
8 team members are authors
OA DOI 10.5281/zenodo.5503634
Abstract
Main objective: to explore deep-sea areas of the Azores for which there is currently little or no information available on the composition and diversity of its benthic fauna in order to better understand the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) and commercial fish species in this region. Methodology: The main device used during this cruise corresponds to the Azor drift-cam, the low-cost drifting camera system designed and developed at IMAR which allows the recording of high-quality underwater video images down to 1000 m depth. The system was deployed both from a fishing vessel and from the research vessel N/I Arquipélago, from the University of the Azores. Chief scientist: Telmo Morato Scientific team: Telmo Morato, Carlos Dominguez-Carrió, Sérgio Gomes, Gerald H. Taranto, Manuela Ramos, Laurence Fauconnet, Luis Rodrigues, Marina Carreiro-Silva Cruise summary: The MapGES_2020 survey was divided in 3 different legs, which were planned to explored different areas of the Azores archipelago around the central group of islands (Table 1, Figure 1). Overall, almost 100 dives were accomplished in 8 different underwater features, which includes 6 shallow seamounts and 2 island slopes. Leg 1, 22 to 31 August 2020. This leg aimed to survey the slopes and small seamounts around the island of Garciosa, with one day also allocated to survey Ilha Azul seamount, an area later completed in Leg 2. The importance of Leg 1 went beyond the amount of new areas explored, but corresponded to the first time that the whole Azor drift-cam system was moved between islands using a regular ferry line and also the first full survey on board of a local fishing vessel not based in Faial island. During Leg 1, 32 dives on the slopes of Graciosa and 4 dives in Ilha Azul seamount were successfully completed (Figure 1), covering more than 17 km of seabed. Leg 2, 24 September to 1 October 2020. This leg also aimed to survey deep-sea areas on the northern side of the central group. After 7 days of work on board of the research vessel N/I Arquipélago, 5 different seamounts were explored, as well as the slopes on the western side of Terceira island, popularly named Serreta (Figure 1). During Leg 2, 37 dives were accomplished, covering more than 20 linear km of seabed. Leg 3, 20 to 26 November 2020. This leg planned to explore two underwater features south of Faial and Pico islands, for which some previous knowledge was available, especially in its deeper areas. During Leg 3, 26 dives were accomplished, 13 in Condor de Fora and 13 in Baixo de São Mateus seamounts (Figure 1), adding an extra 13.3 km of seabed surveyed. Main achievements: Accomplishment of almost 100 new underwater video transects between 100 and 800 m depth, most of them in areas of the Azores that had never been explored before and for which no information regarding the composition of its benthic communities was available. Discovery of diverse coral gardens and sponge grounds whose presence was unknown to science and that may fit the FAO criteria to be considered Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs). Successfully perform a 10-day survey with the Azor drift-cam on board of a local fishing vessel not based in Faial island, with dives to almost 800 m depth. This achievement demonstrates the great capacity of this tool, fully designed and developed at IMAR, to (a) rapidly assess the diversity of deep-sea benthic communities from small local vessels and (b) be moved between areas with ease.
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Location

Institute of Marine Sciences — Okeanos, University of the Azores

Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas — Universidade dos Açores

Rua Prof. Doutor Frederico Machado, No. 4
9901-862 Horta, Portugal

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