Main objectives: MapGES 2025 continues our longstanding commitment to map deep-sea biodiversity and identifying Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores with the Azor drift-cam imagery system. Our 2025 expedition aimed to enhance the data collected in previous surveys by conducting new video transects along the slopes of several islands in the archipelago, including Faial, Pico, Graciosa and Terceira. This fieldwork focused mostly on under-sampled areas and deeper strata. Additionally, we planned to explore one new area, specifically Vasco Gil seamount. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the deep-sea fauna dwelling on the slopes, banks, and seamounts in these areas. Like previous MapGES cruises, our objectives included: (i) mapping benthic communities in previously unexplored seamounts, ridges, and island slopes; (ii) identifying new areas that meet the FAO definition of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems; and (iii) determining the distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The results of this cruise added to the previous contributions to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. It also provides valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodology: We conducted several underwater video transects along the seafloor using the Azor drift-cam, a cost-effective drifting camera system developed by IMAR and Okeanos at the University of the Azores. This system is capable of recording high-quality underwater video images of the seabed, and it was deployed from the MT Physeter. This year, the operation capabilities of the Azor drift-cam was expanded to ~1500 m depth. In each sampling area, we performed a representative number of dives using the video system, ranging from approximately 1200 m to the shallowest point of each structure. The objective was to capture underwater images that would effectively characterize the biodiversity across the entire bathymetric gradient and various substrate types. The video transects were strategically planned based on the most accurate bathymetric data available, allowing the camera system to drift from deeper to shallower regions. This methodology was designed to ensure optimal image quality by maximizing light incidence and minimizing attenuation in the water column, a challenge typically encountered during descending transects. Each transect with the Azor drift-cam was planned for approximately 60 to 120 minutes on the seafloor, with the system drifting over benthic habitats at an average speed of 0.5 to 1 knot. Under favourable conditions, each working day facilitated 3 to 5 dives, corresponding to approximately 5 kilometres of seafloor explored daily. Cruise summary: The MapGES 2025 cruise aboard MT Physeter consisted of 1 leg, divided in 3 parts, aimed at exploring and revisiting slopes, banks, ridges, and seamounts surrounding Faial, Pico, Graciosa and Terceira Islands. A total of 40 successful dives were conducted out of 41 planned, covering 11 sampling areas. During Leg 1a, on the 4th of June, we performed 2 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam. These first deployments surveyed the deep-sea benthic communities dwelling on the slopes of the geomorphological structures on the north flank of Faial Island. These first dives were also a practical test to experience some add-ons on our structure, such as the external feeding of the GoPro camera, the implementation of a second spotlight, the use of a 1500m umbilical cable and the USBL system. During the Leg 1b, from 21st June to 1st of July, we performed 35 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam around Graciosa and Terceira Island slopes and some adjacent geomorphological structures such as Vasco Gil, Ilha Azul E and João de Melo. Several deep dives (>1000 m) were performed during this leg with no major problems across the components of the drift-cam. During the Leg1c, on the 25th of July, we performed 3 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam on the deeper sectors of the NW slopes in Pico Island. During this year’s survey we observed diverse benthic and fish communities, from which we may highlight impressive and extensive aggregations of the primnoid corals Narella versluysi and N. bellissima, in Ilha Azul E, the notably large specimens of the octocoral Callogorgia verticillata, in Maçarico, the black corals Leiopathes expansa, in Beirada de Fora, and Antipathes dichotoma, in Vasco Gil. Also, an incredible and most likely record-breaking aggregation of anguilliform fishes Halosauridae was recorded at approximately 900 m depth in Graciosa S area. Main achievements: During the MapGES 2025 survey conducted aboard the MT Physeter, 41 stations were completed using the Azor drift-cam. The stations spanned depths ranging from 205 to 1130 m, encompassing a broad spectrum of marine strata. The survey covered approximately 31 km of the seafloor and generated more than 49 hours of video footage for analysis. These numbers represent a big achievement considering that we successfully operated, once again, the Azor drift-cam for deep-sea exploration on board a small vessel and this year with several improvements on our system including an umbilical cable of 1500m, the underwater positioning system (USBL), the external power feeding of the GoPro camera and the addition of a second spotlight. This year’s survey aimed to complete the coverage of selected Island slopes around Faial, Graciosa, Terceira and Pico Islands. We successfully accomplished nearly all our objectives in each one of the areas re-visited and were also able to explore the Vasco Gil seamount for the first time. For the third consecutive year of the MapGES survey onboard the MT Physeter, no Azor drift-cam structures were lost, despite that we were challenged by an entanglement on a lost fishing line, the unexpected encounter of the largest basaltic wall recorded with the Azor drift-cam dive (around 300m high) and an incident where the umbilical cable became entangled in the vessel’s propeller. As one of our key objectives this year was to explore deeper strata previously unsampled in certain areas, the drift-cam was repeatedly deployed at depths exceeding 900 m and performed outstandingly with minimal issues across all components. Ilha Azul E exhibited impressive and extensive aggregations of the primnoid corals Narella versluysi and N. bellissima. Exploration of several areas East of Terceira Island continue to reveal interesting communities. Notably, large specimens of the octocoral Callogorgia verticillata and large black corals Leiopathes expansa were observed in the Maçarico area and Beirada de Fora areas, respectively. The first exploration of Vasco Gil seamount revealed large black corals Antipathes dichotoma. Remarkable geological features were observed across the surveyed areas: around the Vasco Gil seamount a heterogenous seafloor composed of contrasting black and white rock types suggests a complex geological origin in this geomorphological structure. Interesting geological patterns of the seafloor was sighted in Ilha Azul E and Beirada de Fora areas, where evidence of ancient stratification was recorded. A deceased undetermined shark was observed on a sandy bottom in Graciosa S area, probably resulting from fisheries discards. This marks the first recorded shark carcass during an Azor drift-cam deployment. The rarity of such observations rise questions about the visibility and persistence of large organic falls in deep-sea environments. An incredible and most likely record-breaking aggregation of anguilliform fishes Halosauridae was recorded at approximately 900 m depth in the southern area of Graciosa Island. An unusually high number of angler fish (Lophius piscatorius) was repeatedly observed along the slopes of Graciosa Island. The decapod Cancer bellianus was observed on top of the vase-shaped Characella pachastrelloides while holding another sponge. This behaviour is likely uncommon for this species of crustacean.

Main objectives: MapGES 2025 continues our longstanding commitment to map deep-sea biodiversity and identifying Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores with the Azor drift-cam imagery system. Our 2025 expedition aimed to enhance the data collected in previous surveys by conducting new video transects along seamounts over a widespread area in the Azores archipelago, namely the new area on the southern limit of the EEZ, Pico Sul, seamounts and ridges eastern of Terceira Island and a diversity of sites along the Mid-Atlantic ridge and adjacent areas. This fieldwork focused mostly on under-sampled areas and deeper strata. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the deep-sea fauna dwelling on the slopes, banks, and seamounts in these areas. Like previous MapGES cruises, our objectives included: (i) mapping benthic communities in previously unexplored seamounts, ridges, and island slopes; (ii) identifying new areas that meet the FAO definition of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems; and (iii) determining the distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The results of this cruise added to the previous contributions to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. It also provides valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodologies: We conducted several underwater video transects along the seafloor using the Azor drift-cam, a cost-effective drifting camera system developed by IMAR and Okeanos at the University of the Azores. This system is capable of recording high-quality underwater video images of the seabed down to 1200 meters depth, and it was deployed from the RV Arquipélago. In each sampling area, we performed a representative number of dives using the video system, ranging from approximately 1200 m to the shallowest point of each structure. The objective was to capture underwater images that would effectively characterize the biodiversity across the entire bathymetric gradient and various substrate types. The video transects were strategically planned based on the most accurate bathymetric data available, allowing the camera system to drift from deeper to shallower regions. This methodology was designed to ensure optimal image quality by maximizing light incidence and minimizing attenuation in the water column, a challenge typically encountered during descending transects. Each transect with the Azor drift-cam was planned for approximately 60 to 120 minutes on the seafloor, with the system drifting over benthic habitats at an average speed of 0.5 to 1 knot. Under favourable conditions, each working day facilitated 5 to 6 dives, corresponding to approximately 5 kilometres of seafloor explored daily. Cruise summary: The MapGES 2025 cruise aboard RV Arquipélago consisted of 2 legs and aimed at exploring and revisiting banks, ridges, and seamounts on the south limit of the EEZ of the Azores, south of São Miguel in Mar da Prata, East of Terceira Island and in the Mid-Atlantic ridge. A total of 55 successful dives were conducted out of 56 planned, covering 16 sampling areas. During Leg 1, from the 16th to 24th of August, we performed 23 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam. These first deployments surveyed the deep-sea benthic communities dwelling on the slopes of the geomorphological structures on the south limit of the EEZ of the Azores, named Pico Sul, in the southern area of Mar da Prata and in structures located on the east side of Terceira Island (Heitor Álvares, Alcatraz and Dom João de Castro). This first leg had the purpose to complete some areas we wanted to visit for some time now and to visit two new unexplored areas, Pico Sul, around 230 nm away from Faial Island and Heitor Álvares. During Leg 2, from 27th August to 5th September, a total of 32 successful dives were performed with the Azor drift-cam. This Leg aimed at exploring the seamounts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and adjacent areas, some for the first time, and others re-visited in order to complement the previous survey work done there. During this year’s survey, we decided to check what differences could exist in terms of fauna in an isolated and deep seamount (Pico Sul) when compared with the fauna already recorded elsewhere. Fauna encountered in this deep structure was mainly sparse and in low densities. Very interesting deep fauna was observed in the east peaks of Alcatraz geomorphological structure, with sightings of several individuals of the black coral Leiopathes expansa, the rarely recorded glass sponge Asconema cf. setubalense and multiple individuals of the sponge Hertwigia falcifera. Just like it was observed in recent dives performed in the north sectors of Mar da Prata structure, assemblages of a seemingly shallow morphotype of Candidella imbricata were recorded, possibly showing evidence of the wide distribution of this species along all this geomorphological complex. The shallow dives conducted in Dom João de Castro showed extensive and dense coral gardens essentially composed by Viminella flagellum, Dentomuricea aff. meteor and Callogorgia verticillata. We also explored and revisited several Azorean seamounts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, documenting unexpected biodiversity and novel records for us. At Ferradura E, we recorded one of the densest aggregations of Hertwigia falcifera recorded in the region and vast ridges dominated by Narella spp. with frequent colonies of black corals Leiopathes expansa. At the newly named Fantas seamount, we observed a possible first Azorean record of a Mid-Atlantic skate Rajella cf. kukujevi. At Menez Gwen, long drift-cam transects revealed recent pillow lavas colonized by large Leiopathes expansa and Placogorgia sp. Picoto seamount hosted one of the largest aggregations of Acanella arbuscula and Chrysogorgia sp. recorded in the region, while Alfa seamount hosted impressive Paragorgia johnsoni “forests” and diverse associated fauna. Main achievements: During the MapGES 2025 survey conducted aboard the RV Arquipélago, 55 stations were completed using the Azor drift-cam. The performed stations spanned depths ranging from 230 to 1234 m, encompassing a broad spectrum of marine strata. The survey covered approximately 45 km of the seafloor and generated more than 74 hours of video footage for analysis. These numbers represent a big achievement considering that we successfully operated, once again, the Azor drift-cam with several improvements, including an umbilical cable of 1500m, the underwater positioning system (USBL), the external power feeding of the GoPro camera and the addition of a second spotlight. We visited one of the most isolated and offshore seamounts of the Azores EEZ, Pico Sul. This geomorphological structure is at a total distance of around 230 nm from Faial Island. The transit took more than 27h to reach this area and is among the furthest areas ever explored with the Azor drift-cam. The deepest and longest dives with the Azor drift-cam were carried out during this year’s survey: the deepest at Pico Sul, largely exceeding 1200 m, the longest in distance at Menez Gwen (~2.6 km), and the longest in terms of duration at Beta, lasting more than 3 hours. At the newly explored A10 area, our cameras captured a very pale, ghost-like ray that lingered calmly in front of the system. This sighting may represent the first record of the Mid-Atlantic skate (Rajella cf. kukujevi) in the Azores. Inspired by this unusual encounter, the site was renamed “Fantas” seamount, short for Fantasma (“ghost” in Portuguese). The A13 seamount is yet to be renamed. The deeper strata, including the intermediate and lower slopes of the visited seamounts, harboured lush benthic communities, visibly thriving on the seafloor. The richness, abundance, and environmental conditions of many of these assemblages were unexpected, especially as some areas surveyed in the past revealed substantially poorer megabenthic communities. These observations demonstrate how quickly one’s perception of a seamount’s ecological value can change with a few complementary dives and additional seafloor coverage. They also highlight the importance of systematic and repeated exploration to capture the full extent of habitat diversity, ensuring that future spatial planning and conservation measures are grounded in comprehensive and representative knowledge. This year’s survey revealed contrasting patterns of benthic diversity, from sparse communities at Pico Sul to notably rich assemblages in other areas. At this isolated seamount, benthic megafaunal assemblages appear limited, with most species occurring solitarily. Such patterns may offer preliminary clues to the structure of communities on deep, isolated seamounts. The black coral Leiopathes expansa and the glass sponge Hertwigia falcifera were frequently spotted on the multiple outcrops and overhangs found. During the exploration of Ferradura E area, the deeper sectors revealed unique and localized megabenthic communities usually composed of a large variety of species. We recorded what we think could be one of the densest aggregations of the large yellow hexactinellid Hertwigia falcifera. The increment in the observations of these species can also be influenced by the deeper sectors explored this year. Thriving benthic fauna was observed on the deep eastern summits of Alcatraz, including a localized patch of the rarely seen glass sponge Asconema cf. setubalense on a basaltic boulder. This was possibly the first record of this species with the Azor drift-cam. Dense assemblages of a shallow morphotype of Candidella imbricata point to a broad ecological footprint of this primnoid coral within Mar da Prata complex. This interpretation is supported by the remarkable aggregations documented during last year’s survey in M

Main objectives: MapGES 2024 is the continuation of our long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores using the Azor drift-cam imagery system. In this cruise, we operated, once again, from the RV Arquipélago and planned to visit some unexplored areas along the Alberto do Mónaco ridge, Princesa Alice, and some other areas along the Mid Atlantic Ridge. We aimed to expand previous explorations of these areas into deeper waters. During Leg 1, we visited Princesa Alice SW, Monte Alto, Espadarte, Farpas, Monte Alto SE, Monte Baixo, Voador, and Alberto Mónaco N. In Leg 2, we visited Princesa Alice, Princesa Alice S and Princesa Alice SE. Leg 3, aimed to visit Mar da Prata bank, D. João de Castro, and Heitor Álvares seamounts but was cancelled because of problems in the hydraulic which of the vessel. In leg 4, we visited Boureé NE, Boureé E, Princesa Alice, Princesa Alice S, Princesa Alice W, De Guerne, Açor S, Açor, Óscar, Bicuda, and Ferradura. As in other MapGES cruises, the objectives 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 added to the previous contributions to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. It also provides valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodology: We performed several underwater video transects along the seafloor with the Azor drift-cam, a low-cost drifting camera system designed and developed at IMAR & IICM Okeanos at the University of the Azores. It allowed recording high-quality underwater video images of the seabed down to 1000 m depth. The system was deployed from the Research Vessel Arquipélago, owned by the Government of the Azores. In each of the areas or geomorphological structures to be explored, a representative number of dives (or transects) were carried out with a video camera system from a depth of about 1 000 m to the shallowest depth of each structure. The objective is to obtain underwater images to characterize the biodiversity along the entire bathymetric gradient and substrate types of each structure. The video transects were planned according to the best bathymetry available, so that the camera systems move from deeper to shallower areas. This methodology allows the collected images to always have the best possible quality, maximizing the area of incidence of light and avoiding its dissipation in the water column (in the case of descending transects). The transects carried out with the Azor-drift-cam were planned to last approximately 60 min in the seafloor, with the system drifting over the benthic habitats at an approximate speed of 0.5 to 1 knot. Under normal oceanographic conditions, each working day allowed for 5 to 6 dives, corresponding to around 5 km of bottom explored per day. Cruise summary: The MapGES 2024 cruise onboard RV Arquipélago was composed of 4 Legs, which were planned to visit some unexplored areas along the Alberto do Mónaco Ridge, the Princesa Alice bank and its surrounding areas and some seamounts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Overall, 144 dives out of 145 stations were accomplished in 20 sampling areas, covering approximately 83km of the seafloor and generated 139 hours of videos images for analysis. During Leg 1, from 6th to 15th July 2024, we performed 47 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam. During this Leg, we managed to perform the 1000th dive with the Azor drift-cam, as well as the farthest ever from land. Unfortunately, we lost one complete Azor drift-cam system (the fourth since we started operating the system back in 2019) due to entanglement on lost longlines near a vertical wall. During Leg 1 we surveyed the deep-sea benthic communities dwelling on the geomorphological structures along the Alberto do Mónaco Ridge. During Leg 2, from 17th to 31st July 2024, we performed 31 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam aroud the Princesa Alice bank areas, but the weather conditions severely limited our operations in this important Azorean fishing ground. Leg 3 of the MapGES 2024 was canceled due to multiple technical issues related to the research vessel Arquipélago, which prevented us from carrying out our work. Leg 4 of the MapGES 2024 cruise was composed of two parts. During the first half of Leg 4, from 24th to 30th August 2024, we performed 43 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam, continuing the exploration of the Princesa Alice bank and expanding our work to its surrounding areas. During the second half of Leg 4, from 3rd to 6th September 2024, we performed 21 successful dives in some seamounts along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, including Óscar, Bicuda and Ferradura. Main achievements: During the MapGES 2024 cruise on-board the RV Arquipélago, we were able to perform 144 dives with the Azor drift-cam down to 1100 m depth, where we explored about 83 km of the seafloor and produced 139 hours of video footage. This year, we performed the farthest dive ever from land on the southwest tip of the Alberto do Mónaco ridge, in Espadarte area. On July 12th 2024, we achieved an impressive and unbelievable milestone: the dive 1000 with the Azor drift-cam. Back in 2018 when we started to design a low-cost system to provide us with some images of the seafloor of the Azores, we never expected that only 6 years later we would have visited all geomorphological structures shallower than 1000 m and produced one of the world’s most comprehensive dataset of deep-sea benthic megafauna biodiversity distribution. In Espadarte seamount we lost one complete Azor drift-cam system; the fourth since we started operating the system back in 2019. In station 16, we got entangled on several lost fishing lines and a steep wall. We could see several lost multifilament lines hanging from the wall and spent about 2 hours trying to get it free but with no success, seince the umbilical broke on the hydraulic winch. This is yet another example of the volume of lost fishing lines in really steep slopes of the Azores seamounts and the impact they have in deep-sea exploration. After this unfortunate event, we cancelled the dives for the rest of the day, prepared a new set of the Azor drift-cam, and were ready to go. Although, the video annotations still have to be finished, it seems that we confirmed Farpas seamount as one of the areas in the Azores with higher densities of the primnoid corals Narella bellisima and Narella versluysi. In 2022, we were stunned by the impressive high abundances of the primnoid corals Narella spp. observed in this seamount with the NIOZ towed camera system, during the iMAR Eurofleets+ cruise. It was with no surprise but with great joy that the Azor drift-cam dives confirmed that similar ridges in the Farpas seamount host similar high abundances of these species. Remarkably, the density of these corals frequently exceeded 10 colonies per square meter, accompanied by a diverse array of other benthic species. This observation reinforces the ecological significance of this area and highlights the rich biodiversity found within the deep-sea environments of the Azores. We were caught by surprise with occasional rocky outcrops filmed at the deep and flat Alberto do Mónaco N area teeming with benthic fauna with patches of impressive biodiversity. The expectations for the biodiversity explorations in this area were low, given the flat and deep nature of the structures. However, on a couple of rocks we observed black corals Leiopathes expansa with Madrepora oculata, Paramuricea, and Candidella imbricata. The “bird’s nest” glass sponge Pheronema carpenteri was, likely, the most conspicuous species observed during this cruise. This sponge was frequently seen occupying the deeper strata samples, between 650 and 1000m depth, in small to large patches over soft bottoms. Not surprisingly, this species is one of the most common records in our deep-sea biodiversity occurrence database. We finally explore more thoroughly a large area that includes Princesa Alice and Açor banks, achieving a total of 74 successful dives in these and their vast surrounding areas. Despite being the most heavily fished grounds of the Azores archipelago, these areas showed a high diversity of megabenthic fauna and communities, across all depth strata explored. We also reached the goal of exploring the deeper sectors of some seamounts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Back in 2019, the exploration of the seamounts that compose this large mountain chain was confined to 600m depth, which meant that the exploration of these areas still lacked in representativeness. During this cruise, we wanted to complement these past surveys with the exploration of deeper strata, thus making the survey of these areas more complete. Indeed, these sectors revealed diverse benthic communities of several coral species such as large Paragorgia johnsoni, Leiopathes expansa, Placogorgia sp., Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata, Hemicorallium niobe, H. tricolor, Pleurocorallium johnsoni , and Pseudoanthomathus sp., revealing the presence of unique fragile and vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems along the MAR. Óscar, Bicuda and Ferradura seamounts contained other relevant benthic assemblages, including dense Narella spp. gardens and great abundances of Acanthogorgia spp., for instance. Unfortunately, the goal of visiting the Mar da Prata bank and the D. João de Castro and Heitor Álvares seamounts during Leg 3 could not be achieved due to technical reasons related with the RV Arquipélago hydraulic system, which stopped working during Leg 2 of this cruise. As the issue remained unsolved f

Main objective: MapGES 2024 continues our longstanding commitment to map deep-sea biodiversity and identifying Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores with the Azor drift-cam imagery system. Our 2024 expedition aimed to enhance the data collected in previous surveys by conducting new video transects along the slopes of several islands in the archipelago, including São Miguel and the northern Mar da Prata, Graciosa, Ponta da Ilha N in the Southeast of Pico Island, as well as Flores, Corvo, and Terceira Islands. This fieldwork focused on under-sampled areas and deeper strata. Additionally, we planned to explore two new areas, specifically Ilha Azul W and Raio Seamount. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the deep-sea fauna dwelling on the slopes, banks, and seamounts in these areas. Like previous MapGES cruises, our objectives included: (i) mapping benthic communities in previously unexplored seamounts, ridges, and island slopes; (ii) identifying new areas that meet the FAO definition of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems; and (iii) determining the distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The results of this cruise added to the previous contributions to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. It also provides valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystem. Methodology: We conducted several underwater video transects along the seafloor using the Azor drift-cam, a cost-effective drifting camera system developed by IMAR and Okeanos at the University of the Azores. This system is capable of recording high-quality underwater video images of the seabed down to 1000 m depth, and it was deployed from the MT Physeter. Cruise summary: The MapGES 2024 cruise aboard MT Physeter consisted of 4 legs aimed at exploring and revisiting slopes, banks, ridges, and seamounts surrounding São Miguel, Graciosa, Pico, Flores, Corvo, and Terceira Islands. A total of 150 successful dives were conducted out of 153 planned, covering 28 sampling areas and approximately 80km of the seafloor and generated more than 150 hours of video footage for analysis. During Leg 1, from 30th June to 17th July 2024, we performed 40 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam. This first Leg surveyed the deep-sea benthic communities dwelling on the slopes of the geomorphological structures around São Miguel Island and the north part of the Mar da Prata seamount. This was a challenging leg due to the bad weather conditions throughout the mission. During the Leg 2, from 21st July to 1st August 2024, we performed 48 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam around Graciosa Island slopes and some adjacent geomorphological structures such as Ilha Azul and Mar da Fortuna. We also revisited the south of Pico Island namely the northernmost part of a seamount chain area called Ponta da Ilha. The explorations of the Ponta da Ilha N was unexpectedly challenging due to its geomorphology, being even more difficult when operating with a small vessel such as MT Physeter. During Leg 3, from 9th to 22sd August 2024, we performed 43 dives in the island slopes around Flores and Corvo. During Leg 4, from 26th August to 7th September we performed a total of 22 dives with the Azor drift-cam, a little less than the usual number because of the constant bad sea conditions. Nevertheless, we were able to revisit the Terceira Island slopes and the adjacent banks and seamounts. Main achievements: During the MapGES 2024 survey conducted aboard the MT Physeter, 153 stations were completed using the Azor drift-cam. The stations spanned depths ranging from 100 to 1130 m, encompassing a broad spectrum of marine strata. The survey covered approximately 80km of the seafloor and generated more than 150 hours of video footage for analysis. These numbers represent a big achievement considering that (i) we successfully operated, once again, the Azor drift-cam for deep-sea exploration on board a small vessel and (ii) a great part of the days at the sea were characterized by an extremely challenging weather, especially during Leg 1 and 4 around São Miguel and Terceira Islands. This year’s survey included a diverse set of locations, involving Ilha Azul, Raio seamount, and the northern extension of the Ponta da Ilha volcano chain. This volcanic structure, extending nearly 40 nautical miles from the eastern tip of Pico Island, is still just slightly explored due to the time and vessel limitations and definitely deserves a more in-depth exploration. Due to its particular geomorphology, which is made up of a chain of many narrow seamounts, deploying the Azor drift-cam and passing over the top of the seamounts was a very difficult task, as most of the time the structure only passed along one flank of the hill. For the second consecutive year of the MapGES survey on-board the MT Physeter, no entire Azor drift-cam structures were irretrievably lost despite entanglements with discarded fishing lines or contact with big basaltic outcrops. The successful retrieval of all deployed gear, with only minor damage during all the campaign, underscores the team’s preparedness and their effective response to challenging situations. The MapGES 2024 survey was substantially focused on investigating deeper strata in areas already visited during the previous campaigns. Exploration of these deeper zones provided a more comprehensive understanding of deep-sea biodiversity, so that we can manage to fill some knowledge gaps about the benthic communities present in some of the areas. Several rare or less frequently encountered species were observed using the Azor drift-cam, notablyincluding swordfish (Xiphias gladius), the European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas), the smalltooth sandtiger shark (Odontaspis ferox), and a species of sponge tentatively identified as cf. Hertwigia falcifera. Wealso had the opportunity to record two different species belonging to the genus Halosaurus, being this fact notable because it was only recorded for the first time with the Azor drift-cam during MapGES 2023 survey. Although no particularly large or spectacular coral communities were detected, several diverse coralgardens were identified, particularly around Terceira Island. These included notable gorgonian species such as Dentomuricea aff. meteor, Acanthogorgia spp., Viminella flagellum, and Paracalyptrophora josephinae. Outstanding coral gardens dominated by the octocoral Dentomuricea aff. meteor had been reported during the MapGES 2023 survey around Terceira Island, and this year, revisiting nearby areas, it wasn’t possible to observe exemplars as a large as last year, probably mainly due to explorations at deeper sectors. During this year campaign, when in São Miguel, we were able to witness what it could be one of the most extensive and with the largest individuals of the gorgonian Candidella cf. imbricata ever recorded with the Azor drift-cam. These aggregations were sighted on Mar da Prata N, and the observation is particularly relevant because of the apparently good coral status and because this area is strongly known for the concentration of significant part of the bottom fishing effort in the Azores region. We detected an extraordinary aggregation of the “bird’s nest” sponge Pheronema carpenteri in Ponta daIlha N (Southeast of Pico Island). There is a high chance that this is one of the densest and largest fieldsmainly composed by this sponge, that we have recorded with the Azor-drift cam, growing on a large flatarea characterized by soft and unconsolidated substrate. This reinforces the idea that this is most certainly the sponge species we encounter most frequently and in higher densities, across a relatively large depth range.

Main objective: The OceanX 2023 (OCX 2023) is the continuation of our long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores. In this cruise, we operated from the RV OceanExplorer and planned to visit some unexplored areas such as the geomorphological structures around the Princesa Alice bank and Dom João de Castro seamount, as well as other areas near the slopes of Pico and Faial islands. As in the MapGES cruises, the objectives 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, (iii) determine distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores, and (iv) determine the condition of benthic communities by looking at evidence of fishing damage to fauna, presence of lost fishing gear and marine litter. Moreover, this cruise aimed to collect biological samples of poorly known or unidentified species observed on video footage. The results of these explorations will directly contribute to the Regional Government of the Azores efforts to declare 30% of the Azores EEZ as marine protected areas of which 10% should be strictly protected. The results of this cruise added to the previous contributions to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. It also provides valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodology: We performed several underwater video transects using the vehicles available in the RV OceanXplorer. These assets included the Argus ROV Chimaera, rated to 6000 meters depth, and the Triton submersibles Nadir and Neptuno rated to 1000 meters and with similar sampling capabilities as the ROV Chimaera. In each of the areas or geomorphological structures to be explored, we carried out video transects from a depth of about 1 000 m to the shallowest depth of each structure. The objective was to obtain underwater images to characterize the biodiversity along the entire bathymetric gradient and substrate types of each structure and to collect as many samples of unknown species as possible. Since in-situ data of water-mass characteristics is very scarce, one of the goals of the cruise is to collect information that can contribute to the understanding of the water masses distribution in the Azores. Vertical CTD/Rosette profiles could be conducted at each of the video stations at a seabed depth of about 1,000 m in order to measure physical and chemical seawater properties that characterize the dominant water masses described for the Azores: 0-150m, Mixed layer and seasonal thermocline; 150-550 m, North Atlantic Central Water (NACW); 500-1500 m, Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) / Subarctic Intermediate Water (SAIW, west of MAR). The North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW; >1500 m) will not be targeted during this cruise. One open-ocean control station should also be considered. Accurate knowledge of seabed characteristics is crucial in order to effectively plan the biological surveys and to better understand the ecological processes that are observed in the video images. Considerable effort has been placed in the last few years in collecting accurate bathymetric data in the Azores region and, therefore, most areas to be visited have already been surveyed with MB. Nevertheless, we suggested conducting surveys in all 3 main areas to improve coverage or complement existing data (Princess Alice bank, D. João de Castro bank and SE Pico area). Additionally, opportunistic MB surveys were conducted during the transits. In order to achieve our communication goals, our media team onboard Ocean Explorer was in permanent contact with the OKEANOS institute media team on land to organize social media posts about the mission. Several science communication activities were organized during the cruise, including full photo and video coverage of the scientific activities. Cruise summary: During the OXR 2023 survey we visited several areas in the central group of the Azores, namely D. João de Castro seamount and Princesa Alice bank and the slopes of Faial Capelinhos, Pico S Lajes, and Pico Ponta da Ilha (Table 1). Taking advantage of the technological assets onboard RV OceanXplorer, namely the ROV Chimaera and the Submersibles Neptune and Nadir, we were able to conduct 8 manned submarine dives and 12 remotely operated vehicle dives, one ROV D. João de Castro seamount, 3 SUB and 3 ROV dives in Capelinhos, 5 SUB and 6 ROV dives in Princesa Alice (Princesa Alice, Princesa Alice W, Bourée E), and one ROV dive in Pico S Lajes and another one in Ponta da Ilha N. From the 20 ROV and SUB dives, 19 were successful. In general both the ROV and the submersible dives covered a much smaller linear distance (average 952 m) per hour of survey (206 m·h-1) when compared to the Azores drift-cam. One of the reasons for the shorter distances was the need to collect biological samples to clarify the taxonomic identification of several organisms. During these dives, we were able to collect 268 biological samples belonging to approximately 197 different morphotypes. It is likely that this sampling effort will help solving about 100 taxonomic questions. After each ROV or submersible dive we performed a CTD cast to measure water masses properties and collect water samples for more detailed analyses. Form the 27 CTD stations, 15 were specifically conducted to address deep-sea related questions, while the other stations were performed to address the Pelagic team objectives. From these 15 dedicated CTD casts, we obtained 157 water samples for different types of analyses. Main achievements: The deep-sea component of the OceanX 2023 expedition revealed that banks and seamounts heavily exploited by bottom longline fishing are still home deep-sea benthic communities with a high natural and ecological value. 1. During the OXR 2023 we visited 7 different areas, and mapped 3,840 km2 of seabed, of which 630 km2 is new information to be included in official Portuguese databases. We were able to participate in 8 manned submarine dives and 12 remotely operated vehicle dives, which produced 84:30 hours of deep sea video, over 19 km of bottom, and 268 biological samples. We also performed 27 stations for analysis of water masses, in which 157 samples were collected for analysis of environmental DNA and other parameters. 2. We observed many benthic communities, some of them quite special. One of the highlights of this campaign was the big basalt outcrops found at around 800 m depth that were densely colonized by many colonies of the black coral Leipathes expansa. Most of the colonies observed were visually healthy, particularly large, probably older than 1.000 years, and with a lot of associated biodiversity. It is possible that before demersal fishing exploited this bank, these arborescent black corals, vulnerable to fishing, were even much more abundant, larger and older. These corals are very slow growing and can live for thousands of years. 3. We also discovered one of the few hard coral reefs known in the Azores composed by the lace corals Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora occulata. This small reef was observed at around 850 m depth on the Capelinhos area, west of Faial. Hard coral reefs play an important role in the biogeochemical cycles of the deep sea, but are very vulnerable to ocean acidification. Some portions of this reef were not alive, forming a compact coral framework to which many other associated species were attached. A better understanding of their distribution and their susceptibility to climate change are priority lines of research for the future. 4. We also discovered one of the largest and densest coral garden dominated by the primnoid Callogoria verticillata found in the Azores. This gorgonian forest, found on the Dom João de Castro seamount, is characterized by fan-shaped colonies whose feathery branches resemble palm leaves. Most of the colonies observed were smaller than usual, but possibly the densest aggregation of this species observed so far. 5. We observed dense aggregations of the largest species of sponges that inhabit the deep sea of the Azores (e.g., Characella pachastrelloides, Haliclona magna), on the Princesa Alice bank. Sponges play a structuring role in the deep sea, increasing ecosystem productivity and creating habitat for other species. 6. In one of the areas explored with multibeam probes, an unknown canyon (or gorge) of about 15 km long, 340 m wide and with cliffs about 100 m high was found. The canyons and gorges of the Azores are fairly unknown habitats where unique ecosystems can be found. 7. The OceanX 2023 expedition made it possible to identify that a large part of the benthic communities, including corals and sponges, observed in one of the Azores' main demersal fishing grounds are still in good environmental condition and have a high natural and ecological value. However, some long-lived coral colonies with visible fishing impacts were observed. These in situ observations corroborate the conclusions of previous studies which suggest that well-regulated deep-sea fishing based on hook-and-line gear (preferably handlines) could contribute to a sustainable exploitation of the deep sea. 8. The manned submarines and the ROV available on the RV OceanXplorer, allowed collecting 268 biological samples belonging to approximately 197 different morphotypes. It is likely that this sampling effort will help solving about 100 taxonomic questions, and some samples could even reveal new species to science. In summary, we found areas that fit the definition of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems, and compiled valuable scientific information to inform policies that promote the preservation of the natural

Main objective: MapGES 2023 is the continuation of our long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores using the Azor drift-cam imagery system. As in other MapGES cruises, the objectives 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 added to the previous contributions to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. It also provides valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodology: We performed several underwater video transects along the seafloor with the Azor drift-cam, a low-cost drifting camera system designed and developed at IMAR & Okeanos (University of the Azores), which allows the recording of high-quality underwater video images of the seabed down to 1000 m depth. The system was deployed from the research vessel RV Arquipélago, owned by the Government of the Azores. Cruise summary: The MapGES 2023 RV Arquipélago cruise was composed of two Legs. In the first, we visited some unexplored areas such as the geomorphological structures around the Princesa Alice bank and the seamounts north of Graciosa (Sedlo, Borda, João Leonardes, and Gaillard) (central Azores). In the second, we also visited some unexplored areas such as the geomorphological structures of Hard Rock Café (northern of Corvo Island), Kurchatov SE (in the north mid Atlantic-ridge), Albatroz N, Ferraria N, Ferraria Mar, Sauerwein, Mar da Prata, Grande Norte (south of Faial Island), and the seamounts around Princesa Alice (Princesa Alice S, Princesa Alice SE, and De Guerne) and we revisited other geomorphological structures that needed complementary sampling efforts as, for example, Isolado, Kurchatov N, Kurchatov SW, and Mar da Prata South. During the MapGES 2023 RV Arquipélago cruise, we performed 145 dives in 148 stations down to 1 125 m depth, and covered about 85 km of seafloor, resulting in more than 141 hours of video images. These dives were conducted in 28 different sampling areas, including 26 seamounts and 2 island slopes around the island of São Jorge. During this cruise, we explored, for the first time, some areas such as the famous Hard Rock-Café and Sedlo seamounts. Data on the benthic communities inhabiting these seamounts was lacking to complement existing information that supported the designation of these areas as Marine Protected Areas (MPA) of the Azores Marine Park (PMA). Main achievements: 1. Eighteen unexplored geomorphological structures in the Azores EEZ were visited, being listed in the evaluation of areas with substantial knowledge gaps. a. Leg1 – Sedlo W, Sedlo, Borda, São Jorge NE, Princesa Alice W (formerly part of Princesa Alice), Princesa Alice SW (formerly Alberto do Mónaco), Picos S do Princesa Alice-, plus two areas that were not listed - the Gaillard seamount and the an area West of Picos S do Princesa Alice. We also visited some areas that have already been explored but were in need of extra video data namely João Leonardes, Serreta Mar, Mar da Fortuna, and São Jorge NW. b. Leg 2 – Hard Rock Café, Kurchatov SE, Albatroz N, Ferraria N, Ferraria Mar, Sauerwein, Mar da Prata, Mar da Prata N, Grande Norte and one seamount around Princesa Alice (De Guerne). We also visited four areas that have already been explored but needed extra video data namely the Isolado, Kurchatov N, Kurchatov SW, and Mar da Prata S. We also visited the Perestrelo Bartolomeu area, for which some information already existed, and the Petrov area, which turned out to be deeper than what the maps indicated. 2. During the MapGES 2023 cruise we accomplished 143 underwater video transects and the deepest dive to date performed with the Azor drift-cam, at 1 125 m depth. In total, we collected 141 hours of new underwater video footage of seabed habitats. As in previous years, the presence of some fishing lines made our deep-sea exploration challenging. After having the Azor drift-cam caught on several lines, mainly around São Miguel Island (Mar da Prata and Grande Norte seamount) and Kurchatov SE, we managed to get it free only with minor damages. This collateral fishing impact is hampering the acquisition of deep-sea biodiversity data to inform management deserve to be better quantified. Problems with the Outland lasers systems resulted in the lack of laser points the some of the images recorded. 3. We finally explored the Sedlo seamount with the Azor drift-cam. From 2002–2005, Sedlo was the focus of a multidisciplinary EU project, OASIS (Oceanic Seamounts: An Integrated Study), which showed highly complex hydrographical patterns with anticyclonic circulation around its three summits, driven principally by Taylor column formation. This seamount was speculated to accommodate one the Azores’ most important spawning ground for orange roughies and alfonsinos. 4. Deep-sea explorations with the Azor drift-cam contributed with supporting evidence to consider Sedlo seamount as an Essential Fish Habitat. We found areas that are home to the highly endangered deep-sea fish orange roughy Hoplostethus atlanticus and discovered that Sedlo and other neighbouring seamounts host a high number of deep-sea shark species, some of which rarely observed in the Azores. We also discovered large aggregations of the black coral Leiopathes expansa on the summit of the Sedlo W, with most specimens of relatively small sizes. This area seemed to be a good candidate for being considered a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem and should be kept in the list of priority areas for conservation in the Azores. 5. We also explored Borda, João Leonardes, Gaillard seamount, north of Graciosa Island. Along with Sedlo, these seamounts seem to host slightly unique deep-sea benthic communities when compared to other areas in the Azores EEZ explored so far with black corals Leiopathes expansa and Parantipathes hirondelle, the bamboo coral Acanella arbuscula, stylasterids of the genus Errina, the sea urchin Cidaris cidaris, and lamellate sponges of the genus Phakellia among others 6. We started exploring the morphological features south of Princesa Alice peak. Most dives covered soft and mix sediments with relatively low biodiversity and abundance, although some areas hosted high densities of Narella bellissima and Narella versluysi, while others were dominated by patches of Pheronema carpenteri and other sponges (e.g., Asconema sp.). We also observed some sparse colonies of cold-water such as corals Narella versluysi, Hemicorallium niobe, H. tricolor, Acanella arbuscula, Chrysogorgya sp., cf. Leptopsammia, cf. Candidella imbricata, and Flabellum sp., and some deep-sea sponges such as cf. Regadrella, and specimens from the genus Geodia, along with some shrimps Aristaeopsis edwardsiana, sea-urchins Cidaris cidaris and deep-sea fishes such as Mora moro, Synaphobranchus kaupii, Helicolenus dactylopterus, Hoplostethus mediterraneus, Gephyroberix darwinii, Dalatias licha, and one Trachyscorpia cristulata. 7. The Hard Rock Café seamount was finally explored with the Azor drift-cam. The hydrographic Institute had mapped this seamount in 2020 but given its location at 210 nautical miles from the natural starting point of the MapGES cruises (Horta) and its position to the north of the Azores archipelago (usually more affected by adverse weather conditions), the visit to this seamount had been postponed for a few years. After all conditions were met, the Hard Rock Café was visited. It is a geomorphological structure that, due to its characteristics, was from the first moment on the list of the first options for the expansion of the Azores Marine Park, hence the increased importance of this visit. 8. We also visited a seamount named Petrov. This area does not yet have high-resolution bathymetry data, so we tried to prospect the area looking for a peak between 300 m and 1,000 m depth. However, after launching the Azor drift-cam in search of a shallower peak we were unable to reach the bottom. All sonars on board showed depths between 1,900 m and 2,500 m deep, indicating that this area is much deeper than current nautical charts demonstrate and highlighting, once again, the importance of carrying out multibeam bathymetry surveys in the Azores. 9. Deep-sea explorations with the Azor drift-cam contributed with supporting evidence to consider Hard Rock Café and Isolado, Essential Fish Habitats. We found that these areas were both home to the highly endangered deep-sea fish orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) and large schools of the wreckfish (Polyprion americanus). These areas also showed a high number of deep-sea shark species, some of which rarely observed in the Azores. Although these areas showed low abundances in terms of benthic megafauna, we detected some frequent colonies of the slow-growing black corals Antipathes dichotoma and Leiopathes expansa. 10. Most seamounts on the way to and around São Miguel Island, such as Albatroz N, Ferraria N, Ferraria Mar, Mar da Prata and Grande Norte host interesting deep-sea benthic communities with the deeper areas demonstrating abundant coral gardens of both Narella versluysi and Narella bellissima, sometimes, in aggregation with Callogorgia verticillata, Acanthogorgia sp. or Leiopathes expansa. Shallower areas were mainly characterized by large gardens of Viminella flagellum, sometimes associated with Callogorgia verticillata and other times with frequent and large colonies of Dentomuricea aff. meteor. 11. The Sauerwein ridge, between the islands of São Miguel and Sa

Main objective: MapGES 2023 is the continuation of our long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores using the Azor drift-cam imagery system. As in other MapGES cruises, the objectives 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 added to the previous contributions to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. It also provides valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodology: We performed several underwater video transects along the seafloor with the Azor drift-cam, a low-cost drifting camera system designed and developed at IMAR & Okeanos (University of the Azores), which allows the recording of high-quality underwater video images of the seabed down to 1000 m depth. The system was deployed from the research vessel RV Arquipélago, owned by the Government of the Azores. Cruise summary: The MapGES 2023 MT Physeter cruise was composed of two parts divided into 5 Legs. In the first part, we visited some unexplored areas such as the geomorphological structures Boureé NE (previously named Açor NW), Açor bank, de Guerne N (previously named Açor SE), São Mateus de Fora, Agulhas das 18 Milhas, Álvaro Martins seamount, Terceira N, Terceira S, Terceira E, Maçarico, Beirada de fora (previously part of Maçarico) and Gastromar. In the second, we also visited some unexplored areas such as the geomorphological structures around the islands of São Jorge (São Jorge E Topo e São Jorge NE) and of São Miguel (São Miguel N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, O, NO, e Mar da Prata Norte), and we revisited other geomorphological structures that needed complementary sampling efforts as, for example, São Jorge SE, e São Jorge S Urzelina. During the MapGES 2023 MT Physter cruise, we performed 204 dives in 212 stations down to 1 000 m depth, and covered about 124 km of seafloor, resulting in more than 211 hours of video imagens. These dives were conducted in 32 different sampling areas, including 11 seamounts and 21 island slopes around the islands of Terceira, São Miguel, and São Jorge. During this cruise, we explored, for the first time, the deep-sea benthic communities inhabiting banks, ridges, seamounts, and slopes located around the Island of São Miguel. Main achievements: 1. We visited thirty-two unexplored geomorphological structures in the Azores EEZ listed in the evaluation of areas with substantial knowledge gaps a. Part 1 (Legs 1, 2, and 3) –geomorphological structures south of Faial and around Pico Islands Boureé NE (Açor NW), Açor, de Guerne N (Açor SE), São Mateus de Fora, Agulhas 18 Milhas; and 6 new areas around Terceira - Álvaro Martins, Terceira N, Terceira S, Terceira E, Maçarico, Gastromar, Beirada de fora. We also visited some areas that have already been explored but needed extra video data, namely Terceira NE and Pico N. We also explored a completely new area named 12 Milhas. b. Part 2 (Legs 4 and 5) – São Jorge E Topo, São Miguel N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, O, NO, e Mar da Prata Norte. We managed to fill some knowledge gaps about the benthic communities located in the southeast and eastern portions of São Jorge Island (São Jorge SE and S Urzelina), an area that was difficult to access and explore from small vessels like the MT Physeter, which we did not have the opportunity to visit in previous campaigns. 2. During Leg 1 MapGES 2023 MT Physeter cruise we explored particularly sensitive areas due to fishing activities, namely south of Faial and Pico islands. As in previous years, the presence of some fishing lines made our deep-sea exploration challenging. After having the Azor drift-cam caught on several lines, we managed to get free with only minor damages. This collateral fishing impact is preventing the acquisition of deep-sea biodiversity data to inform management and deserve to be better quantified. Problems with the Outland laser systems resulted in the lack of laser points in some of the images recorded. 3. In both Leg1 and Leg 2 of MapGES 2023 Physeter cruise, most of the dives performed covered sections of sedimentary bottoms, usually characterized by low levels of biodiversity. Nevertheless, some extensive aggregations of the primnoid corals Narella versluysi and Narella bellissima were occasionally observed colonizing rocky outcrops. The bird’s nest sponge Pheronema carpenteri, together with Asconema fristedti composed most of the sponge assemblage, covering areas of mixed substrate. In MapGES 2023 Physeter cruise Leg2, a particularly surprising highlight, since we were completely unaware of this throughout the dive itself, was the impressive aggregation of the echinoderm Cidaris cidaris. It covered a vast section of flat sedimentary seafloor, being the largest and densest aggregation we have recorded so far in the Azores region. 4. The abundance, diversity, and condition in which the several benthic communities observed were found thriving on the Terceira island’s slopes was particularly special and definitely a highlight of Leg3. Despite these previously unexplored areas being subjected to considerable degrees of fishing effort, most of the benthic fauna observed was visually healthy and harboured many associated fish species as well. The main highlights of Leg 3 were: (1) the sighting of uncommonly large specimens of the coral Dentomuricea aff. Meteor in Terceira N, quite possibly the largest specimens we have recorded so far in the Azores region; (2) The detection of areas with the display of black coral aggregations such as Leiopathes glaberrima and L. expansa; (3) Observation of what we believe are small primnoid corals yet to be identified in at least two different seamounts in Terceira E area. 5. During Leg 4, it was the first time an extensive scientific survey was specifically designed to map and describe deep-sea benthic communities inhabiting banks, ridges, seamounts, and slopes located around the Island of São Miguel. 6. In both Legs 4 and 5 of MapGES 2023, most of the dives performed covered sections of sedimentary bottoms, usually characterized by low levels of biodiversity. Nevertheless, there were locations showing extensive coral aggregations that potentially are indicative of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. These aggregations were mostly encountered at depths shallower than 400-500 m depth and were dominated by extraordinarily large colonies of Callogorgia verticillata and, less frequently, by colonies of Dentomuricea aff. meteor often mixed with other coral species commonly found around the Azores, such as Viminella flagellum and Acanthogorgia spp. On a few occasions, extensive aggregations of the primnoid corals Narella versluysi and Narella bellissima were observed at depths greater than 500 m. 7. Noteworthy is the observation, during Leg 5, of some coral aggregations that appear to be particularly rare in the archipelago of the Azores. These include (i) a vast area completely covered by a reef of the stony coral Eguchipsammia cornucopia; (ii) an extraordinarily dense coral garden featuring, among other species, the bubble gum coral Paragorgia johnsoni (a species that do not appear to be very common on island slopes), and particularly high densities of the primnoid species Narella bellissima and N. versluysi; (iii) a large area dominated by an unidentified species of the family Stylasteridae (i.e. lace corals); (iv) an area dominated by a rare purple coral most likely of the genus Paramuricea; (v) an aggregation of black corals (order Antipatharia) on the northern part of Mar da Prata Bank. 8. Regarding sponge aggregations, the highlights of these two legs are (i) the observation of extensive areas with the presence of the species Pseudotrachya hystrix, mainly encountered at the common sandy floors where we usually drifted over, (ii) some frequent sightings of even bigger specimens of the often-robust Characella pachastrelloides complex and, (iii) the frequent notice of big and widespread aggregations of the “bird nest” sponge, Pheronema carpenteri. 9. A potential new species of deep-sea fish may have been observed for the first time in the Azores archipelago, named Gaidropsaurus spp., spotted on two different days. 10. The invasive alga Rugulopteryx okamurae, which in recent years appeared on most Azorean shores, was very frequently observed in large patches down to depths of about 900 m, suggesting that the impact of this species on resident communities may not only be limited to coastal areas but also extend into the deep sea of the Azores. Therefore, to fully understand how Rugulopteryx okamurae alters the distributional and niche dynamics of native species and the extent of its impacts, there is a need to investigate how it affects both shallow and deep-sea communities. 11. In general, it was found that the benthic communities around São Miguel Island present an apparent good environmental status. This observation is particularly relevant if we consider that this area concentrates a significant part of the bottom fishing effort in the Azores Region. 12. During Leg2 of this cruise, we achieved a long waiting milestone: teaching our South Atlantic partners how to operate the Azor drift-cam. The iAtlantic capacity building workshop aimed to share the technological and methodological details for the use of the Azor drift-cam. It ran from 5-8th June 2023 in the facilities of Escola do Mar (EMA) in the city of Horta (Faial Island, Portugal). A total of 12 researchers from the iAtlantic consortium

Main objective: MapGES 2022 is the continuation of our long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores using the Azor drift-cam video system. This year, we operated from the RV Arquipélago and were lucky to finally explore some long-awaited areas such as the Diogo de Teive and Cachalote seamounts, the Flores island slopes (western Azores), but also the Girard, Maria Celeste, Formigas and Margrette seamounts and the island slopes of Santa Maria (eastern Azores). As in other MapGES cruises, the objectives were to (i) map benthic communities inhabiting unexplored seamounts, ridges and island slopes, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO definition of what constitutes a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME); and (iii) determine distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. The results of this cruise, when added to the previous contributions, will help identify what are the main environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic fauna in the Azores. This cruise also provided valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and provided new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodology: We performed several underwater video transects along the seafloor with the Azor drift-cam, a low-cost drifting camera system designed and developed at IMAR & Okeanos (University of the Azores), which allows the recording of high-quality underwater video images of the seabed down to 1000 m depth. The system was deployed from the research vessel RV Arquipélago, owned by the Government of the Azores. Scientific team in Leg 1: Telmo Morato (chief scientist), Sérgio Gomes, Luís Rodrigues, Guilherme Gonçalves, Inês Carneiro Scientific team in Leg 2: Telmo Morato and Carlos Dominguez-Carrió (chief scientists), Sérgio Gomes, Luís Rodrigues, Guilherme Gonçalves, Manuela Ramos Cruise summary: The MapGES 2022 survey was divided in 2 legs, which were planned to explore very distant areas of the Azores, namely the eastern and western group of islands (Table 1, Figure 1). Overall, ~130 dives were accomplished in 22 sampling areas, which include 11 seamounts and the slopes of 5 different islands (Tabel 2). During Leg 1, from 6^th to 23^rd July 2022, we performed 62 dives with the Azor drift-cam, covering 36.3 km of the seafloor and producing 60:33 hours of video footage, 3.31TB of disc space. This leg surveyed the deep-sea benthic communities dwelling on the slopes of Flores island and Diogo de Teive and Cachalote seamounts on board of the research vessel Arquipélago, together with some dives around Faial, Pico and São Jorge islands. During, Leg 2, from 14^th to 28^th August 2022, we performed 72 dives with the Azor drift-cam, covering 35 km of the seafloor and producing 69:38 hours of video footage, 3.82TB of disc space. This leg surveyed the slopes around Santa Maria island, as well as several seamounts on their vicinity, some located on the easternmost part of the Azores archipelago. Leg 2 explored for the first time the seamounts of Albatroz do Meio, Girard, Maria Celeste and Margrette seamounts, and collected new information on the shallower areas of Formigas seamount, for which data was still lacking to complete the exploratory dives done in previous surveys. Main achievements: During the MapGES 2022 cruise we accomplished of more than 130 underwater video transects between 190 and 1099 m depth with the Azor drift-cam, adding up to around 130 new hours of underwater video footage of seabed habitats. The presence of many lost fishing lines made our deep-sea exploration challenging. After having the Azor drift-cam caught on several lines, we managed to get free with only minor damages. These collateral fishing impacts, i.e., preventing the acquisition of deep-sea biodiversity data to inform management deserve to be better quantified. Deep-sea exploration with the Azor drift-cam confirmed that Diogo de Teive seamount may classify as a near-natural or pristine area. The Portuguese Hydrographic Institute mapped this seamount in 2019 and found that it was much shallower than previous maps indicated. Because of the lack of known fishing events, we classified Diogo de Teive as a potential near-natural or pristine area. During the dives performed in Leg 1, we found many large and intact colonies of the coral Callogorgia verticillata that showed no signs of impacts from fishing activity, and we also encountered large schools of the wreckfish Polyprion americanus. More exploration may be needed, but this area should be kept in the list of priority areas for conservation in the Azores. We explored the Cachalote seamount with the Azor drift-cam, after almost 4 years of waiting. The Portuguese Hydrographic Institute also mapped this seamount back in 2018 and revealed its flat-topped structure. The benthic communities showed a clear vertical stratification, with extensive gardens of Narella bellissima and Narella versluysi at depths between 700 m and 900 m, with areas characterized by the bamboo coral Acanella arbuscula. At 500-600 m depth, coral gardens of Callogorgia verticillata and Viminella flagellum were observed, together with many other species of corals and sponges. We also drifted over some alfonsinos, silver roughy, wreckfish, and saw lost fishing lines, both on the deeper dives and also on the summit. Although there were quite a few large Callogorgia verticillata colonies, many of them showed signs of fishing impacts, such as broken or missing branches. We also explored the deep sea around Flores island, the westernmost point of the Azores and Europe, but siting on the North American Plate. We were stunned by two very dense patches of large pink and white bubblegum corals (Paragorgia cf. johnsoni) that resemble those observed in the Gigante Western Ridge. These areas are good candidates for breaking the record of the densest bubblegum coral garden in the Azores. The coral gardens seemed to be in reasonably good conditions, despite the fact that many colonies showed signs of impacts, some even found lying broken over the seafloor. We were also stunned by the diverse fauna colonizing the steep walls that can be found around Flores island, where large corals resembling Paramuricea were filmed, as well as by the diverse benthic communities observed with several species of corals and sponges, including Acanthogorgia sp., Dentomuricea cf. meteor, white and yellow Viminella flagellum, Elatopathes abietina and Leiodermatium sp. Deep-sea exploration with the Azor drift-cam of several isolated seamounts located between the islands of Pico and Santa Maria (Albatroz do Meio, Girard, Maria Celeste) for which no information regarding their benthic communities was previously available. The images recorded revealed a diverse benthic ecosystem characterized by (among several other assemblages) dense coral gardens of Narella versluysi, Narella bellissima and Candidella imbricata, aggregations of Stylasterids, large Callogorgia verticillata colonies and sponge grounds with the barrel sponge Pheronema carpenteri, as well as extensive areas with deposits of coral rubble. We completed the first visual survey to the slopes of Santa Maria island, with a total of 30 dives carried out with the Azor drift-cam at depths between 200 and 1070 m depth, covering the whole perimeter of the island. The habitats explored host rich benthic communities, with black corals of the genus Leiopathes on its deepest areas, coral gardens of Narella versluysi and Narella bellissima and sponge grounds with Pheronema carpenteri at intermediate depths, and coral gardens with Viminella flagellum and Callogorgia verticillata, as well as aggregations of giant sponges of the genus Characella, in the shallowest areas explored, among several other assemblages. We explored areas below 600 m depth inside the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Formigas seamount to complete the exploratory work performed in deeper areas during the MedWaves cruise in 2016. The dives unveiled one of the largest and densest aggregations of the primnoid coral Callogorgia verticillata ever recorded in the Azores, which was found on the northern slopes of Formigas seamount. Although the area has been protected for several years, we were surprised by the amount of lost or abandoned fishing lines observed laying over the seabed. We performed the first dives ever on Margrette seamount, the easternmost part of the Azores archipelago shallower than 1000 m depth, and hence that can be surveyed with the Azor drift-cam. Margrette seamount appeared to be a very complex area in terms of its geological morphology, with several vertical walls that complicated the exploratory work performed. Discovered dense and 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).

The iMAR 2022 cruise “Integrated assessment of the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) in the Azores region” took place aboard the Research Vessel Pelagia of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) between July 28^th and August 4^th 2022. This expedition was the second leg of the iMAR cruise funded by the SEA OCEANS program of Eurofleets+ and the H2020 European project iAtlantic. It was led by the University of the Azores (Portugal) in collaboration with the Hydrographic Institute (IH), the University of Porto (Portugal), the University of Aarhus (Denmark), the National Oceanography Center (United Kingdom), GEOMAR (Germany), the University Museum of Bergen (Norway), the PP Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (Russia), and the University of Vale do Itajaí (Brazil). During this cruise, we explored under-visited portions of the southern sector of the MAR in the Azores region and associated ridges and seamounts between 300 and 1,200 m depth (Figure 1): (1) unnamed seamount (coded B14) and Alfa seamount, (2) ridges around the Menez Gwen hydrothermal vent area, (3) A16 seamount and Cabeçote hills, (4) Sarda N and Sarda NE seamounts, (5) Farpas ridge, and (6) Voador seamount. On most sampling locations, we collected multibeam data, CTD measurements, water and sediment samples, as well as towed camera video transects along with ADCP data to survey deep-sea coral and sponge communities. Water samples will be used to characterize water masses properties (nutrients and physical-chemical parameters) and also for biodiversity analyses through eDNA methods. Sediment samples (collected at 1,000 m depth) will be used for biodiversity analyses through faunal studies and eDNA methods, the presence of microplastics, granulometry analyses, and physical-chemical studies. Although the data has yet to be analysed in detail, the iMAR 2022 cruise revealed some exciting discoveries. We have identified new areas that fit the FAO definition of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VME), and compiled valuable scientific information to inform the development of policies that promote the preservation of the natural heritage, ensuring the sustainable use of the deep sea, minimizing negative impacts on these vulnerable ecosystems.

Main objective: MapGES 2021 is the continuation of our long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) in the Azores using the Azor drift-cam video system. This year, we operated on the RV Arquipélago and on the FV Gotimar, based in the small island of Corvo. Due to an ongoing strike declared by the crew of the RV Arquipélago, our work focused in areas close to Faial harbor (mostly Faial, Pico and São Jorge islands). Using the FV Gotimar, we sampled the slopes of Corvo island for the first time ever. As in other MapGES cruises, the objectives were to (i) map the benthic communities inhabiting unexplored seamounts, ridges and island slopes, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO definition of what constitutes a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME); and (iii) determine the distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. The results of this cruise, when added to other contributions, will help to identify what are the main environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic fauna in the Azores. This cruise also provided valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and provided new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Methodology: We performed several underwater video transects along the seafloor with the Azor drift-cam, a low-cost drifting camera system designed and developed at IMAR & Okeanos (University of the Azores). It allows the recording of high-quality underwater video images of the seabed down to 1000 m depth. The system was deployed from the research vessel RV Arquipélago, owned by the Government of the Azores and from the Fishing Vessel Gotimar, owned by Mestre Pereira. Scientific team Leg 1: Telmo Morato (chief scientist), Sérgio Gomes, Luís Rodrigues, Manuela Ramos, Guilherme Gonçalves, Gerald H. TarantoScientific team Leg 2: Telmo Morato and Carlos Dominguez-Carrió (chief scientists), Sérgio Gomes, Luís Rodrigues, Gerald H. Taranto, Manuela RamosScientific team Leg 3: Carlos Dominguez-Carrió (chief scientist), Sérgio Gomes, Luís Rodrigues, Gerald H. Taranto, Guilherme Gonçalves Cruise summary: The MapGES 2021 survey was divided in 3 legs, which were planned to explore the island slopes of Faial, Pico and São Jorge in central Azores, and Corvo island in the western group (Table 1, Figure 1). Overall, 147 dives (out of 155 stations) were accomplished in 17 sampling areas, which include the slopes of 4 different islands (Table 2). During Leg 1, from 15th to 23rd July 2021, we performed 61 dives (out of 64 stations) with the Azor drift-cam, covering 31 km of the seafloor and producing 61 hours of video footage. This leg surveyed the deep-sea benthic communities of the slopes of Faial and Pico islands on board RV Arquipélago. During Leg 2, from 10th to 16th August 2021, we performed 18 dives (out of 20 stations) with the Azor drift-cam, covering 8 km of the seafloor and producing 20 hours of video footage. In this leg, we surveyed the slopes around Corvo island for the first time, on board the FV Gotimar. In Leg 3, which lasted from the 25th of August to 15th September 2021, we performed 68 dives (out of 71 stations) with the Azor drift-cam, covering 48 km of the seafloor and producing about 68 hours of video footage. Leg 3 explored the benthic communities on the slopes of Faial, Pico and São Jorge Islands on board RV Arquipélago. Main achievements:1. During the MapGES 2021 cruise we completed almost 150 underwater video transects between 100 and 970 m depth with the Azor drift-cam, adding up to around 150 new hours of underwater video footage of seabed habitats. As in previous years, the presence of many lost fishing lines made our deep-sea exploration challenging. After having the Azor drift-cam caught on several lines, we managed to get free on all occasions with only minor damage. These collateral fishing impacts, which limit the acquisition of deep-sea biodiversity data to inform management, deserve to be better quantified. 2. We completed the first visual survey of the slopes of Corvo island, with a total of 18 successful dives with the Azor drift-cam on board of a local fishing vessel, at depths between 130 and 970 m, covering the whole perimeter of the island. The slopes of Corvo island were mostly covered by soft sediments with some basaltic outcrops. In most areas explored, the octocorals Viminella flagellum and Acanthogorgia sp. formed large aggregations together with the demosponge Phakellia ventilabrum. Sporadically, and still within these gardens, we also observed small colonies of the fan-shaped octocoral Dentomuricea aff. meteor and the “bubblegum” coral Paragorgia johnsoni. The black coral Elatopathes abietina was alos found on most of the dives, forming large but scattered aggregations, while the species Stichopathes gravieri, Parantipathes hirondelle and Leiopathes glaberrima were occasionally present. 3. The island slopes around Faial island were mostly covered by soft sedimented and deposits of coral rubble at the base of the slopes, with marine snow visible on the water column. The small ridge in Faial NW (near Praia do Norte) hosted an impressive and diverse aggregation of Candidella imbricata and Errina atlantica, with other less abundant species such as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata, usually over a bed of dead coral framework. Hidden below the rocky overhangs, large colonies of the black coral Leiopathes cf. expansa were observed. This area also contained an assemblage of the “bubblegum” coral Paragorgia johnsoni in its usual red and white morphotypes. Some of the small seamounts of this area may fit some of the FAO criteria that defines what constitutes a VME. 4. Throughout the dives conducted during this cruise, many commercially important fish species were commonly recorded, such as the bluemouth rockfish (Helicolenus dactylopterus), orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus), silver roughy (Hoplostethus mediterraneus), and congers (Conger conger), reinforcing the idea of the slopes south of Faial Island as an important deep-sea area. 5. In the slopes south of Pico island, we observed several alfonsinos (Beryx decadactylus), one of the most valuable fish species in the Azores, with off-vessel prices reaching over 40 € per kilo. Among the vast range of coral species present in the areas, an impressive black coral colony of the genus Bathypathes was observed in Baixo de São Mateus. A vast aggregations of the bird’s nest sponge Pheronema carpenteri was also discovered in this area.

This report describes the DeepWalls survey aimed to characterize and map the distribution of deep-sea megafaunal communities associated with vertical walls in the Azores by means of the submarine LULA1000 of the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation (FRN). The primary target areas for the submersible dives were the South of Pico and São Jorge Islands, where the existence of communities of interest in vertical walls had already been identified during exploratory dives performed by FRN based on the information compiled in the database (Deliverable 1.1). Five submersible dives were undertaken in 2020 in the vertical walls down to 1000 m depth around the islands of Pico and São Jorge. In addition to these dives, in August 2019, the DeepWalls team coordinated two dives on seamount ridge Baixo de São Mateus, located south of Pico Island. Theses dives, financed by Oceano Azul Foundation, collected information for the DeepWalls project and to support the process of identifying new areas of interest for conservation in the Azores EEZ under the Blue Azores program, in partnership with the Oceano Azul Foundation (FOA).

The iMAR cruise “The Integrated assessment of the distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) in the Azores region” took place aboard the Research Vessel Pelagia of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research between May 17^th and June 2^nd 2021. This expedition was funded by the SEA OCEANS program of Eurofleets+ and the H2020 European project iAtlantic, and was led by the University of the Azores (Portugal) in collaboration with the Hydrographic Institute and University of Porto (Portugal), the University of Aarhus (Denmark), the National Oceanography Center (United Kingdom), GEOMAR (Germany), the University Museum of Bergen (Norway), the PP Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (Russia), and the University of Vale do Itajaí (Brazil). We explored under-visited portions of the northern MAR in the Azores region and associated ridges and seamounts between 300 and 1,200 m depth: (1) South Chaucher, (2) unnamed seamount coded as D12, (3) the Kurchatov fracture zone area, including Isolado and D10 seamounts and ridges complex, (4) unnamed seamount West of Oscar seamount coded as D5, (5) the Gigante seamount and ridges complex, and (6) Cavala seamount. On most sampling locations, we collected multibeam data, CTD measurements, water and sediment samples, and tow camera transects to survey deep-sea coral and sponge communities. Water samples will be used for biodiversity analyses through eDNA methods and the characterization of water masses properties (nutrients and physical-chemical parameters). Sediment samples (collected at 1,000 m depth) will be used for biodiversity analyses through faunal studies and eDNA methods, microplastics, granulometry analyses, and physical-chemical studies.

Objectives: To explore deep-sea areas of the Azores EEZ to better understand the distribution patterns of large VME species and commercial fishes. Specifically, the objectives of the cruise were to (i) continue the characterization of benthic communities inhabiting the slopes of Terceira and neighboring submarine ridges, (ii) identify new areas that may fit the FAO definition of what constitutes a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem; and (iii) to contribute with additional data to address patterns and drivers of the distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. It will also provide 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. Vessel: R/V Pelagia Chief scientist: Fleur Visser (NIOZ) Scientific team: Manuela Ramos (IMAR-UAç) Cruise summary: Six new dives were performed by the towed camera system of R/V Pelagia during the cruise. Four dives were performed on the southern Terceira island depression, covering a depth range between 1300 and 1900 m. The remaining two dives were performed in the Serreta Ridge, WNW of Terceira, between 780 and 1100 m depth. Overall, we collected 6 h of new video footage.

Objectives: to explore deep-sea areas of the Azores EEZ to better understand the distribution patterns of large VME species and commercial fishes. Specifically, the objectives of the cruise were to (i) continue the characterization of benthic communities inhabiting the slopes of Terceira and neighbouring deep seamounts, (ii) identify new areas that may fit the FAO definition of what constitutes a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem; and (iii) to contribute with additional data to address patterns and drivers of the distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. It will also provide valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES), and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and provide new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. Vessel: R/V Pelagia Chief scientist: Fleur Visser (NIOZ) Scientific team: Carlos Dominguez-Carrió (IMAR-UAç), Sérgio Gomes (IMAR-UAç) Cruise summary: Three new hopper dives were performed during the cruise. One dive was performed on the southern slopes of Terceira island, covering a depth range between 150 and 750 m. The remaining two dives were performed in a deep seamount located southwest of Terceira Island, in two locations at 1000 and 1500 m depth. Overall, we collected 7 h of new video footage, covering 8.75 km of the seabed. More than 6 km corresponded to the deep seamount, from which no information was available until now.

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.

Objective: to explore seamounts of the Azorean archipelago to better understand the distribution patterns of VMEs and commercial fish species. A special interest was placed in exploring deep-sea areas along the Mid Atlantic Ridge and close to islands of the central group. The device used in this survey corresponds to the low-cost drift-cam video platform designed and developed at IMAR. Vessel: N/I Arquipélago Chief scientist: Telmo Morato Scientific team: Telmo Morato, Carlos Dominguez-Carrió, Sérgio Gomes, Gerald H. Taranto, Jordi Blasco, Manuela Ramos, Laurence Fauconnet, Cristina G. Zárate, Marina Carreiro-Silva Main achievements: Successfully tested the new design of the low-cost drift-cam system developed at IMAR Exploration of over 80 km of seabed down to 750 m depth in 8 different areas for which little or no information of its benthic communities was available Discovery of new sites that host diverse coral gardens and sponge grounds that were unknown to science New data on the distribution of VMEs in the seamounts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Objectives: to improve the understanding on the sphere of influence of hydrothermal vents on the distribution of deep-sea megafauna around vent sites and the exploration of Sarda seamount to improve our knowledge on the distribution and abundance of large VME indicator species and deep-sea commercial fishes in the large Azores region. Vessel: R/V Pelagia Chief scientist: Sabine Gollner (NIOZ) Scientific team: Carlos Dominguez-Carrió (IMAR), Sabine Gollner (NIOZ) Main achievements: Improvement of our understanding on the effects of hydrothermal vent plumes on the distribution of benthic megafauna Identification of new VME areas in Sarda seamount, including glass sponge aggregations and dense cold-water coral assemblages Cruise summary: The Rainbow 2019 cruise on board of R/V Pelagia allocated 2 days of work to explore 2 different deep-sea areas of the Azores region using the Hopper tow-cam system: the Rainbow hydrothermal vent site and Sarda seamount. Overall, 6 successful video transects were carried out, generating more than 18 hours of seafloor images. These dives provided information along 17.8 km of seabed, at depths that ranged between 430 and 2,500 meters. Two high-definition video transects of 1.5 km long were performed at the hydrothermal vent site, starting and ending at a distance larger than 500 m off the main active chimneys. Spatial changes in the structure of the benthic community will be visually evaluated to understand the potential effect of vent plumes on deep-sea megafauna. The total amount of bottom time recorded at Rainbow site was above 3 hours and 20 minutes, with all footage considered valid for annotation purposes. Another main objective of the Rainbow 2019 cruise was to explore Sarda seamount, located on the western side of the MAR. This geological structure stretches for more than 120 kilometres in length, and its summit can reach depths as shallow as 300 m. The 4 Hopper dives carried out at Sarda seamount aimed to obtain video footage from a wide bathymetric range, starting down to 1000 m depth all the way up to the summit. The 4 dives covered 14.8 km of seabed, generating over 15 hours of bottom time.

Objectives: to explore deep-sea areas of the Azores EEZ to better understand the distribution patterns of large VME species and commercial fishes. Specifically, OKEANOS/IMAR/ATLAS/MapGES/iAtlantic objectives in the cruise were to (i) characterize benthic communities inhabiting seamounts in the Azores, such as the São Jorge de Fora seamount, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO vulnerable marine ecosystems criteria; and (iii) to contribute with additional data to address patterns and drivers of the distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. It will also provide valuable information in the context of Good Environmental Status (GES) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and provide new insights on how to sustainably manage deep-sea ecosystems. The information gathered in this cruise was obtained by means of the Hopper tow-cam system, an HD video platform specially designed to be operated onboard the R/V Pelagia. Vessel: NIOZ R/V Pelagia Summary: During the 64PE456 cruise, we performed 8 hopper dives in total, 4 in deep sandy bottom areas known to be important foraging grounds for marine mammals and 4 in the São Jorge de Fora seamount, a poorly known seamount south of Terceira Island. In total we collected 7:40 hours of video covering 4.5km of mostly sandy bottom in the abyssal plain and about 5:20 hours, covering 3.6km of the seamount seafloor.

Authors: Marina Carreiro-Silva, Manuela Ramos, Telmo Morato Partners: Greenpeace Pole-to-Pole expedition, IMAR Instituto do Mar, the EU ATLAS and iAtlantic projects and the FRCT MapGES project. Vessel: MV Esperanza Chief scientist: Marina Carreiro-Silva Scientific team: Telmo Morato, Manuela Ramos, and Marina Carreiro-Silva The scientific deep-sea work conducted on board the “MV ESPERANZA” and using the ROV SEAEYE COUGAR-XT aimed to visit some previously unexplored seamounts in the Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR). In some of these seamounts, there was strong evidence of the presence of large aggregations of the bubble gum coral Paragorgia johnsoni and other Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) indicator taxa. These areas were located around the Cavala seamount, approximately 100 nm west of Horta harbour in Faial island. Sampling design for the benthic deep-sea work aimed to (i) map benthic communities inhabiting unexplored seamounts in the Mid Atlantic Ridge west of Faial Island with the Seaeye Cougar ROV, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO vulnerable marine ecosystems definition (or similar designations, e.g. APEIs); and (iii) to contribute with additional data to address patterns and drivers of the distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The sampling design also allowed the collection of biological samples for taxonomy and genetic studies.

Objectives: to conduct an expedition to some unexplored areas of the deep Azores using the Portuguese ROV “Luso” and the vessel “NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho”. The sampling strategy that was designed to identify Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems and report the deep-sea benthic biodiversity using the ROV Luso also aimed to (i) map benthic communities inhabiting unexplored seamounts in the Central (Gigante complex) and Western (Cachalote complex) part of the Azores Region, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO vulnerable marine ecosystems definition; and (iii) determine distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The results of this cruise will also contribute to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region, evaluating at the same time the role played by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as a barrier between the western and the eastern parts. It will also provide 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.

Objectives: to explore seamounts of the Azorean archipelago to better understand the distribution patterns of large VME species and commercial fishes. Namely, the cruise aimed to (i) map benthic communities inhabiting unexplored seamounts and banks in the Central (Dom João de Castro) and Eastern (Alcatraz and Mar da prate) part of the Azores Region, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO vulnerable marine ecosystems definition; and (iii) determine distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The results of this cruise will also contribute to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. It will also provide 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. The devices used in this survey correspond to low-cost custom made video platforms designed to operate between 200 and 500 m depth.

Objectives: to explore deep-sea areas of the Azores EEZ to better understand the distribution patterns of large VME species and commercial fishes. Specifically, IMAR/ATLAS objectives in the cruise were to (i) characterize benthic communities inhabiting unexplored seamounts, such as Cavalo and São Jorge de Fora seamounts, (ii) identify new areas that fit the FAO vulnerable marine ecosystems definition; and (iii) determine distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores. The results of this cruise will also contribute to identify the environmental drivers that determine the spatial distribution of deep-sea benthic biodiversity in the Azores region. It will also provide 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. The information gathered in this cruise was obtained by means of the Hopper tow-cam system, an HD video platform specially designed to be operated on board of the R/V Pelagia.

Following the discovery of the new hydrothermal field “Luso” in the Azores during the scientific expedition “Oceano Azul” that took place in May and June, a follow up day scientific sampling mission as part of the TRANSECT scientific campaign onboard the ship RV L’Atalante took place on August 4^th. The mission was coordinated by Telmo Morato, chief scientist of the deep water exploration of the Oceano Azul expedition, in close collaboration with Nadine Le Bris, chief scientist of TRANSECT scientific campaign. The Portuguese team participating in the mission was composed of 4 scientists with different expertise in research areas of hydrothermal vents (e.g. geology, chemistry, ecology, microbiology) and the chief pilot of the Portuguese ROV Luso from EMEPC. The expedition's main objective was to collect sufficient information and samples for a proper description of the “LUSO” hydrothermal vent field area. Specifically, the mission aimed to collect information i) on the geological and geochemical (including chimneys and deposits/sediments) description of the area; ii) on the chemical composition of the vent fluids and gases, and on the environmental parameters that can help to describe the area of influence of the vent; iii) on the biology and microbiology of the vent field; iv) the background fauna, mostly cold-water corals and sponges and v) to produce a photo-mosaic of the vent field. For this purpose, a detailed dive plan based on the video footage collected during the first scientific mission in June identified three priority areas to be visited: (1) the main venting area with the largest identified vent chimney; (2) a secondary venting area composed of smaller active vent chimneys ; (3) an inactive vent field area.

Background: Baixo de São Mateus is known for its historical importance as a fishing ground south of Pico Island. Fisheries bycatch information suggests that this seamount may host important deep-sea benthic communities. However, Baixo São Mateus has never been explored with video surveying techniques. By taking advantage of the collaboration with the Fundação Rebikoff-Niggeler (FRN) and the use of their submersible LULA1000, based in the harbour of Horta (Faial), we aimed to explore the never surveyed seamount ridge Baixo de São Mateus. The main objective of this survey was to evaluate if this area may fit the FAO criteria that define what constitutes a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem. Namely, we aimed to: characterize the diversity and spatial distribution patterns of benthic communities and commercial fishes in this important fishing ground; document potential fishing impacts on the main structuring species that conform to the different benthic communities. Deep-sea benthic communities in Baixo de São Mateus: Overall, approximately 3.7 linear kilometers of seafloor were covered during the two exploratory dives carried out on the southern flank of Baixo de São Mateus. A total of seven benthic communities were identified, showing a clear bathymetric zonation. Remnants of longline fishing gears (e.g. ropes and monofilament lines) were recorded during the two dives, with several broken or damaged colonies of corals and sponges observed. Management recommendations: Based on the assessment described in the report, the seamount ridge Baixo de São Mateus does not fit the FAO criteria to be considered a VME and thus there is no sufficient scientific information to support this area as high priority for conservation in the Azores. Despite the presence of some long-lived species, there was an overall low number of species and communities and in low densities, when compared to other geomorphological features of the Azores region. Baixo São Mateus is an important fishing ground in the Azores. The low natural diversity of the benthic communities observed may suggest that existing fishing pressures in Baixo São Mateus will likely not have produced significant adverse impacts in the existing benthic living communities. However, it should be noticed that the present assessment is based only on two video transects, which covered a limited area of the seamount ridge. It is thus possible that we may have missed some important communities or areas with higher species diversity or other large structuring species. Therefore, continued scientific research is necessary to better understand the distribution of species, as well as the structural and functional role of such deep-sea benthic communities to better define adaptive management and conservation strategies.

The MEDWAVES (MEDiterranean out flow WAter and Vulnerable EcosystemS) cruise targeted areas under the potential influence of the MOW within the Mediterranean and Atlantic realms. These include seamounts where Cold-water corals (CWCs) have been reported but that are still poorly known, and which may act as essential “stepping stones” connecting fauna of seamounts in the Mediterranean with those of the continental shelf of Portugal, the Azores and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. During MEDWAVES sampling has been conducted in two of the case studies of ATLAS: Case study 7 (Gulf of Cádiz-Strait of Gibraltar-Alboran Sea) and Case
study 8 (Azores). The initially targeted areas in the Atlantic were: the Gazul Mud volcano, in the Gulf of Cádiz (GoC) area, included in the case study 7, and the Atlantic seamounts Ormonde (Portuguese shelf) and Formigas (by Azores), both part of the case study 8. In the Mediterranean the targeted areas were The Guadiaro submarine canyon and the Seco de los Olivos (also known as Chella Bank) seamount. Unfortunately it was not possible to sample in Guadiaro due to time constraints originated by adverse meteorological conditions which obligate us to reduce the time at sea focusing only in 4 of the 5 initially planned areas. MEDWAVES was structured in two legs; the first leg took place from the 21st September (departure from Cádiz harbour in Spain) to the 13th October 2016 (arrival in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal took place the 8th of October due to the meteorological conditions that obligated to conclude the first leg earlier as planned). during the Leg 1 sampling was carried out in Gazul, Ormonde and Formigas. The second leg started the 14th October (departure from Ponta Delgada) and finished the 26th October (arrival in Málaga harbour, Spain). MEDWAVES had a total of 30 effective sampling days, being 6 days not operative due to the adverse meteorological conditions experienced during the first leg which forced us to stay in Ponta Delgada from the 08th to the 13th October. During MEDWAVES the daily routine followed a similar scheme, depending of course on the weather and sea conditions. The main activity during the day, starting early in the morning (around 08:00 AM, once the night activities were finished), was the ROV deployment. Generally a single ROV dive of around 8 hours was performed, however in several occasions two dives were carried out in the same day (see General station list, Appendix II). After the ROV (and sometimes between two dives) the Box Corer and/or Van Veen Grab and/or Multicore was deployed. After these activities, during the night CTD-Rosette deployments and MB was conducted. Accordingly to this schema the scientific personnel worked in the day or in the night watch. A total of 215 sampling stations have been covered in MEDWAVES, using the following sampling gears: Multibeam echosounder, CTD-Rosette, LADCP, Box Corer, Van Veen Grab, Multicorer and a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Table 1 sumamrised the number of sampling stations conducted with each gear in each sampling zone. Additionally MB surveys have been conducted during the transits between areas.

Objectives: (i) to map benthic communities inhabiting the seamounts of the Great Meteor Complex with the ROV Luso; (ii) identify new vulnerable marine ecosystems; (iii) collect biological and seawater samples; (iv) collect multibeam and backscatter data; (v) collect oceanographic data. Vessel: NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho Chief scientist: Marina Carreiro-Silva Scientific team: Marina Carreiro-Silva, Telmo Morato, Íris Sampaio, (IMAR UAç, MARE), Ana Martins, Clara Loureiro (DOP, UAç), André Gonçalves (IPMA), Catarina Mendes (IPL, ESTM) ROV Luso team: António Calado, Andreia Afonso, Bruno Ramos, Carlos Neto, João Quintas (EMEPC), Renato Bettencourt (IMAR UAç)

Relatório de Cruzeiro CORALFISH: Condor, Voador e Banco Açores 2010 a bordo do NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho. (datas 5 a 13 Agosto 2010) Autores: Fernando Tempera, Filipe Porteiro, Marina Carreiro-Silva, Andreia Braga-Henriques, Eva Giacomello, Ana Branco, Pedro Ferreira, Pedro Ribeiro, Telmo Morato, Ricardo Santos, Projectos: CoralFISH (IMAR, FP7), CONDOR (UAc, EEA), CORAZON (IMAR, FCT), Hermione (UAc, FP7) Objectivos: mapear as comunidades bentónicas dos monte submarinos Condor e Voador, identificar novas zonas de corais de águas frias, comparar a comunidade de peixes associada a zonas com e sem corais, recolher amostras biológicas e de água do mar, levantamento multifeixe (batimetria e backscatter) dos dois montes submarinos e outras áreas importantes, colocação de módulos de colonização no banco Condor. Navio: NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho Chefe de cruzeiro: Leg1- Ricardo Serrão Santos (monte submarino Condor); Leg2- Fernando Tempera (monte submarino Voador) Equipa científica: Leg 1- Ricardo Santos, Fernando Tempera, Filipe Porteiro, Marina C. Silva, Andreia Henriques, Eva Giacomello, Ana Branco (LNEG) e Pedro Ferreira (LNEG) Leg 2- Fernando Tempera, Telmo Morato, Marina C. Silva, Andreia Henriques, Pedro Ribeiro, Ana Branco (LNEG) e Pedro Ferreira (LNEG)