Exploring cold-water coral reefs: Towards better comprehension and preservation of these habitats
A party of European scientists are to leave Brest on 9 September to conduct the BobEco research cruise aboard IFREMER’s research vessel Pourquoi pas? equipped with the remotely operated underwater vehicle Victor 6000. Running until 11 October, this cruise led by Sophie Arnaud-Haond (of the Deep-Sea Studies research unit at the IFREMER Brittany Centre in Brest) aims to explore deep-sea coral reefs in the Bay of Biscay and off western Ireland. These complex habitats, also called cold-water coral reefs, are threatened by deep-sea fishing and ocean acidification. However, very little data is currently available on the reefs found in French Atlantic waters.
Sponsored by the French Ministry of Ecology and the Marine Protected Areas Agency, the BobEco and BobGeo cruises are part of the European project CoralFISH.
See the following press release: