MIDAS experts Phil Weaver, Kristina Gjerde, Telmo Morato and Matt Gianni took part as an invited panellists at a roundtable meeting of managers and scientists who shared their perspectives on current and expected conservation problems in the deep sea. The discussion was mediated by the Portuguese Directorate-General for Marine Resources, Environment and Maritime Affairs (DGRM) and took place during the Deep Sea Biology Symposium in Aveiro on 1 September 2015.
With Leg 1 of the SO242 cruise complete, Leg 2 is now well underway in the Peru Basin. The German research vessel RV Sonne will spend two months in the Peru Basin revisiting the site of a seafloor disturbance experiment that was carried out by German researchers in 1989.
The Summer 2015 edition of the MIDAS newsletter is now available to download here. Containing updates on field expeditions, results from experimental work and the latest policy developments, the MIDAS newsletter is produced quarterly. Previous editions of the newsletters can be downloaded via the MIDAS newsletters page.
For 2 months from 28 July 2015, the German research vessel RV Sonne will be carrying out ecological investigations in remote area of the Peru Basin in the Pacific Ocean. Led by scientists at GEOMAR and involving a number of MIDAS researchers, the work focuses on a circular area of seafloor some 2 nautical miles diameter that was disturbed a quarter of a century ago as part of the German project DISCOL (DISturbance and reCOLonisation experiment).
A team of international scientists and legal experts has recently published a paper in Science magazine calling for a precautionary approach in the design and implementation of regulatory frameworks for the exploitation of deep-sea minerals.
The probable imminent start of commercial activities to mine metals from the deep ocean floor prompted the European Commission to improve public knowledge on the issue and gauge public opinion.
A scoping workshop to consider issues relevant to an Atlantic Strategic Environmental Management Plan took place in Horta, Azores, Portugal from 1-3 June 2015. The workshop was attended by 39 participants from 11 nations, including 14 participants from MIDAS. The workshop was a response to greatly accelerated interest in deep-sea mining, an emerging activity with potential to have a significant adverse effect on the marine environment.
The sixth MoMARSAT cruise aboard RV Pourquoi pas? is underway through the month of April, visiting the Lucky Strike area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to service the deep-sea observatory stationed there.
The first leg of 64PE398 cruise with RV Pelagia has just come to its end, bringing us back to the harbor of the island of Faial (photo, right) in the Azores, after ten intense days of sailing and sampling above the Rainbow hydrothermal vent field.
The probable imminent start of commercial activities to mine metals from the deep ocean floor prompted the European Commission to improve public knowledge on the issue and gauge public opinion.
The sixth MoMARSAT cruise aboard RV Pourquoi pas? is underway through the month of April, visiting the Lucky Strike area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to service the deep-sea observatory stationed there.
The first leg of 64PE398 cruise with RV Pelagia has just come to its end, bringing us back to the harbor of the island of Faial (photo, right) in the Azores, after ten intense days of sailing and sampling above the Rainbow hydrothermal vent field.