New Regional Partnership for
Deep Ocean Exploration in the ETP

From 16-19 July, the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands (CDF, Ecuador), along with partners Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI, Panama), Friends of Cocos Island Foundation (FAICO, Costa Rica), University of Costa Rica's Center for Ocean Research and Limnology (CIMAR) and the Marine and Coastal Research Institute of Colombia (INVEMAR) met in Panama to hold the inception meeting for a new regional scientific partnership. This alliance is established to advance in-country exploration and research on deep-water habitats and seamounts within the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), the intention is to inform better management of deep-ocean multi-country seascapes, which recognizes the vast 95% of unexplored deep hidden oceanic habitat connecting marine protected areas in the region.

The two-day meeting, hosted by partner organization STRI, brought all partners together to discuss the most pressing challenges for deep ocean research in the region and plan next steps towards building local capacity and strengthening collaboration. Topics included the challenges involved in securing appropriate research vessels equipped with the kind of affordable technology capable of exploring vast depths, as well as the need for regional and global collaboration in taxonomy and genetic analysis of samples, in order to better understand hidden ocean biodiversity. The group is committed to working together to establish scientific priorities and questions for the region as a first step in the development of a shared regional research agenda for deep ocean science.

The ambitious regional alliance for deep ocean research is supported by the Bezos Earth Fund, who along with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, awarded the Charles Darwin Foundation a grant totaling $7 million to help advance deep-ocean conservation as part of a suite of actions for the Eastern Tropical Pacific region.