A scientific program from the 1 OCEAN Foundation to understand and preserve
animal forests.
August 2022. After a particularly hot summer, amateur divers are warning of a major mortality
of gorgonians in the Mediterranean. In some places, populations have been completely decimated between 0 and 30 meters
deep. In response, the 1 OCEAN Foundation and UNESCO decided to launch a major
scientific exploration program. The aim: to understand how deep-sea gorgonians and
their ecosystems could survive.
Red gorgonians (Paramuricea clavata) are endemic and emblematic animals of the
Mediterranean. They are close relatives of reef corals, but unlike them, they can live at
great depths. Like underwater trees, gorgonians form veritable animal forests.
Their three-dimensional structure gives these sessile organisms a role as a larder, nursery and
protective habitat on which many species depend.
An alarming fact
During the summer of 2022, gorgonians in the western Mediterranean basin experienced a massive mortality episode
linked to abnormally high temperatures. At some sites, the results were alarming: at depths of between 0 and 30
meters, almost all the gorgonians died in just a few days. According to
climate projections, these thermal disturbances are set to become increasingly frequent. In the short
term, gorgonian populations in the Mediterranean could be seriously threatened, and with them the entire
associated ecosystem.
"The mortality of gorgonians is probably the latest alarm signal concerning the ecological crisis we
are going through" - Lorenzo BRAMANTI, CNRS Research Fellow - LECOB.
"The situation of gorgonians in the Mediterranean is a reflection of what is happening on our planet as a whole. At
like the Amazon rainforest, underwater animal forests are gradually disappearing, with
equally dramatic consequences. For thousands of living beings, these forests are both a protective habitat
and a larder, and their disappearance inevitably leads to a loss of biodiversity." - Alexis
ROSENFELD, Explorer and photographer for the 1 OCEAN missions.
Faced with the ecological emergency, a scientific exploration program
In response to the ecological emergency, UNESCO and the 1 OCEAN Foundation have launched a scientific
exploration program in partnership with the CNRS and the LECOB research unit of the Observatoire Océanologique de
Banyuls-sur-Mer: "The Noah's Ark of the deep, a future for biodiversity?"
Indeed, beyond a certain depth, gorgonians seem to be preserved, as if they had been
protected in a thermal capsule. For scientists, this finding is a real source of hope: less
impacted by temperature anomalies, the depths could become veritable climate
refuges for animal forests.
Launched in October 2022, this two-year program involves four European countries (France, Italy,
Monaco, Spain), with Lorenzo BRAMANTI, a specialist in animal forests, as scientific director. This
program will be based in particular on Mediterranean shipwrecks, which are formidable natural laboratories for the study
of animal forests.
To assist the researchers, Lily, the Foundation 1 OCEAN's underwater drone, is in charge of collecting
data at depth and taking samples for genetic analysis. The aim will be to determine whether
deep-sea habitats can host demographically self-sufficient animal forests and thus become
the ultimate biological safe haven.
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