Bertarelli-Annual-Report-2023-R9-low (1) - Flipbook - Page 44
Bertarelli Foundation
UN Decade of Ocean Science
for Sustainable Development
2021–2030
Our Indian Ocean Marine Science programme is
an endorsed action of the UN Decade. In 2022, we
participated in the Foundations Dialogue meeting
in Morocco, and ran joint events at the UN Ocean
Conference in Portugal in June and at the West Indian
Ocean Marine Science Association conference in South
Africa in October. We also built links with other endorsed
Actions, including the Early Careers Ocean Professionals.
REV Ocean expedition
In October 2022, REV Ocean and OCEEF organised the
first dedicated mesophotic and deep sea expedition to the
Chagos Archipelago on the R.V. Odyssey. Five scientists
participated from the Marine Science programme from
Bangor, Plymouth, and Oxford universities. Submersibles
were able to conduct transects from 60 m to 500 m at two
locations in the archipelago. Common seafloor organisms
and seaweeds were collected for taxonomic work.
Further sampling was done to examine shallow-to-deep
connectivity of coral populations and environmental DNA
to genetically fingerprint biodiversity. Snorkel surveys
were also carried out to sample the world’s rarest coral,
Ctenella chagius, for genome sequencing.
© REV Ocean
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