March 26, 2024
Mission océan Indien 2022 des Explorations de Monaco: final report in sight
The Steering Committee met on March 19
On the occasion of Monaco Ocean Week 2024, the Steering Committee of the Indian Ocean mission, to be carried out in October and November 2022 by the Société des Explorations de Monaco, met at the Oceanographic Museum on March 19, in the presence of the mission’s scientific project leaders and representatives of the Republics of Seychelles and Mauritius.
The aim of the meeting was to monitor the progress of the mission’s scientific work and to take stock of upcoming deadlines: publication of scientific results, as well as the mission’s final report due to the Seychelles, Mauritius and French governments in December 2025.
After a welcome address by Xavier Prache, Monaco’s Director of Explorations, Bernard Georges and Dass Bissessur expressed the full attention paid to this mission and the scientific results by both States, and their expectations with regard to the conservation and sustainable management issues inherent in the entire South-West Indian Ocean region and the Saya de Malha Plateau joint management zone.
Carl Gustav Lundin, Chairman of the Steering Committee, then gave the floor to the scientific project leaders.
Presentations covered the results obtained since the submission of the interim report, in particular those for zone A1 – Saya de Malha, with contributions from Francis Marsac, Institut de Recherche et Développement (IRD) and Philippe Bouchet, Museum d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris (MNHN), as well as the legal aspects presented by Florence Galletti (IRD).
The other scientific project leaders also presented their research progress; Jérôme Bourjea (Ifremer) for the GECOS project, Sylvain Bonhommeau and Mohan Julien (Ifremer Réunion) for 4SEA, Vincent Taillandier, IMEV, Institut de la Mer de Villefranche-sur-Mer for BGC-Argo, Margot Thibaut from Université de la Réunion for Madcaps, Olivier Brunel of the Institut Océanographique and Didier Zoccola of the Centre Scientifique de Monaco for the World Coral Conservatory (WCC), Heather Koldewey of the Royal Zoological Society of London for Coral Connect, and Nick D’Adamo of the University of West Australia for the Sea Surface Drifters (SSD) project.
Two students on board the S.A. Agulhas II, Alexandre Accardo and Julie Lemoine, then presented the on-board school scheme they had taken part in, created for the benefit of the younger generation of researchers.
They shared their experience and announced that the project would be presented at the2nd Decade of the Ocean Conference in Barcelona from April 10 to 12, 2024.
The meeting then continued with a highly enriching discussion on the final report of the expedition and its dissemination.
This report will undoubtedly be a valuable tool, available to States and political decision-makers to fuel their reflection and discussions around the joint management of the Saya de Malha area within the framework of the BBNJ treaty on the high seas.
Participation in various international and regional events in 2024-2025 was also mentioned, with the ambition of widely disseminating the results of the Indian Ocean 2022 mission and making optimum use of them.
