Jakarta, domclub Indonesia
—
OceanX
together with the National Research and Innovation Agency (
BRIN
) officially started a deep sea expedition to research the Sulawesi seamount chain.This region is known as one of the most remote and least researched regions in the Indo-Pacific region.
This mission will run from December to January and aims to reveal the geological dynamics, biodiversity and interacting ecosystem processes beneath the Pacific Ring of Fire.
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This mission is a continuation of important findings through the OceanX-BRIN mission in 2024 which succeeded in mapping five seamounts in the northern part of Sulawesi that had never been previously identified.
This latest mission is strengthened by involving a larger scientific team, broader research coverage, and more sophisticated exploration tools to produce the most complete deep sea dataset that Indonesia has ever had.
OceanX Co-CEO and Chief Scientist Vincent Pieribone stated that this expedition opened up a great opportunity to understand Indonesia’s deep sea areas which have so far been almost completely undocumented.
“Seamounts can form currents, become homes for rare species, and become stepping stones for life in the deep sea. Of the hundreds of mountains in Indonesian waters, only a few have been explored,” he said in a statement, Wednesday (3/12).
“Therefore, we hope that this collaboration with BRIN can give us a new perspective on how Indonesia’s deep sea supports its wider marine ecosystem,” he added.
Previously, the mission started in Bitung with educational activities for students and local government officials, including a ship tour.
The OceanXplorer research vessel is now moving towards the research location for two research stages.The first phase of research focuses on exploiting geological and hydrothermal features, where researchers will carry out high-resolution mapping, visual surveys and seafloor profiles to understand volcanic structures and deep-sea tectonic formations.
The second phase of this mission is said to examine the biodiversity and ecological dynamics of seamounts using ROVs (remote control vehicles), submarines, environmental DNA sampling, and oceanographic instruments that will be used to document species distribution, connectivity between habitats, and ecosystem structure.
OceanX’s use of SeaSwipe AI technology in this expedition can support the rapid image annotation process so that researchers can map species and habitats in real time.
Furthermore, the scientific datasets produced during this mission are expected to contribute to marine spatial planning, geological risk assessment, as well as establishing biodiversity baselines for the North Sulawesi region.
It is also hoped that this data will provide evidence that can support further research, national projects and long-term planning for the Indonesian government.
(lom/dmi)
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