The Under The Pole III expedition - led by Emmanuelle Périé-Bardout and Ghislain Bardout - began in May 2017 with destinations including both poles. The first expedition, completed in November 2017, consisted of crossing the Northwest Passage to study natural fluorescence and underwater biodiversity in the Arctic.
After a winter in France, the team has now reached Alaska to prepare the second part of their expedition. For 15 months, the crew of Under The Pole will study deep coral reefs and super predators. They will then deploy the Capsule "A prototype of an underwater base that allows people to live underwater for 24 to 72 hours in order to study the depths as well as possible. While the prototype has already seen the light of day, construction will begin in March before being sent to French Polynesia for the first campaign of exploitation in real conditions from June to August 2019!
The expedition will leave Alaska in April to reach Hawaii for a stopover in May, before leaving again for French Polynesia in June. The arrival is scheduled for July and divers will be able to train there. The second part of this expedition will start in July. This research program called "DeepHope" will last 12 months and will be carried out in partnership with scientists from the Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l'Environnement (CRIOBE). The divers will study the deep coral reefs (2018 is the international year) of the five archipelagos of French Polynesia.
Relatively much is known about surface corals, but very little is known about those deeper than 50 m. Mesophotic coral ecosystems could be the refuge of surface corals. Supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR), "DeepHope" aims to better understand the exchanges between surface and deep corals. Divers will be able to go to depths of up to 120 m and will serve as a relay for scientists to study the possibility of repopulation of surface corals by deep-sea corals.
In parallel with this coral study, the team will study the "super predators" represented by the great hammerhead and bulldog sharks. The latter play a critical role in the balance and resilience of marine ecosystems. The main objective of this mission will therefore be to study the ecology of these two shark species.
Once again, the divers will be guided by scientists to collect information on the species (DNA collection, tagging animals with beacons to track their movements, observations...) and study their behaviour. The long-term objective is to better protect these species by creating marine protected areas, to organize sustainable ecotourism and to raise public awareness about their protection.
