The Monaco Explorations mission drops anchor in the Indian Ocean
Created in 2017, the Monaco Explorations mission is part of the commitment of the Principality and its Sovereign within the international community for the safeguarding and sustainable management of the Ocean.
The SA Agulhas II ship will leave its home port of Cape Town in South Africa on October 3, 2022 with scientists, technicians, filmmakers, photographers and artists on board. He will be in Reunion on October 13 and 14 before continuing his journey to the islands of Aldabra and Saint-Brandon. In total, a hundred people constituting the ship’s contingent.
For two months, the various players in this large-scale operation will “to pool their skills and unite their efforts with the intention of raising awareness among the widest audiences of the value of these natural spaces and the pressures they are subject to”.
The study program is structured around the study of the Saya de Malha bank, co-managed by Mauritius and the Seychelles. Seamounts in the mission path will also be examined. The program “aims to satisfy as a priority the needs of the governments of Seychelles and Mauritius, also ensuring good coordination with the international and regional bodies and initiatives concerned, such as the second international Indian Ocean expedition (IIOE-2 – 2015- 2025)”, specifies the mission. You should know that with a surface area of 40,000 km2, Saya de Malha is one of the largest seagrass beds in the world.
Raise awareness among as many people as possible
Different researches make up this scientific program. “Are plastic debris transported by marine currents inert vectors of coral pathogenic microorganisms?”, is one of the questions that the Best Run association will have to answer. This association was founded in 2017 by students from the Masters in Biodiversity of Tropical Ecosystems (BEST) at the University of La Réunion, supported by their professors from the ENTROPIE Joint Research Unit.
Another challenge: the study of the genetic structure and levels of contamination and stress of sea turtles in partnership with Kélonia.
The aim is also to raise awareness among as many people as possible. A web page dedicated to the mission, fed from the departure from Cape Town in South Africa, has been created. The creation of an educational marine area in Curieuse Island National Park, in partnership with the Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority (SPGA) is also underway.
The Oceano educational competition for all aimed at French and Monegasque secondary schools aims “to forge a deep bond between young people and the sea”, by accompanying the classes in the discovery of the marine world and in the realization of a project contributing to the protection of the Ocean. The announcement of this contest was also broadcast in Reunion, the Seychelles and Mauritius.