Through its Perpetual Planet Initiative, Rolex supports Under The Pole expeditions that push the boundaries of underwater exploration. Led by co-founders Ghislain Bardout and Emmanuelle Périé-Bardout, the program’s expert divers recently made a significant discovery in the Arctic Ocean. They found an important ecosystem known as a marine animal forest, dominated by animals like corals, gorgonians, and sponges, that anchor themselves to rocks. These deep-water forests have the potential to form important refuges for underwater life and are rarely included in marine protected areas.
Rolex has supported pioneering explorers pushing back the boundaries of human endeavor for nearly a century. In 2019, the company launched the Perpetual Planet Initiative to support individuals and organizations using science to understand and devise solutions to today’s environmental challenges. The initiative focuses on individuals who contribute to a better world through the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, safeguarding the oceans as part of an established association with Mission Blue, and understanding climate change via its partnership with the National Geographic Society. Rolex also supports organizations and initiatives fostering the next generations of explorers, scientists, and conservationists through scholarships and grants such as the Our World-Underwater.
The mesophotic zone, between 30 and 200 meters deep in the Arctic Ocean, is dimly lit. Organisms like algae that depend on sunlight cannot survive in this twilight world. Instead, the ecosystem is dominated by animals like corals, gorgonians, and sponges that anchor themselves to rocks. These deep-water forests offer more stable conditions than open water and have the potential to form important refuges for underwater life. Many submarine forests remain undiscovered and misunderstood, making Under The Pole’s expeditions vital to furthering our understanding of these ecosystems.
Under The Pole has launched the Under The Pole IV – DEEPLIFE 2021-2030 expedition series, aiming to document marine animal forests across each of the planet’s oceans. The program consists of both seasoned divers and marine scientists who have made pioneering scientific discoveries and raised awareness of overlooked marine ecosystems. With the support of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, the team sailed near the Svalbard archipelago, off the north coast of Norway, to find and survey marine animal forests. During their first series of dives, the team repeatedly drew a blank. But on the final dive of the series, they found the first marine animal forest in the Arctic, at between 50 and 80 meters in depth.
Arctic biodiversity is among the most threatened on Earth, and the floating sea ice that covers much of the Arctic Ocean has halved over the last 40 years. Under The Pole’s mission was to raise awareness of these fragile ecosystems and find clues on how to protect them. To access their chosen sites, the team sailed amidst floating sea ice, in temperatures that regularly dropped to -30° C. In order to locate the forest, team members repeatedly dived into the Arctic Ocean, at sites never explored before. Diving beyond the 30 meters typical of recreational dives, they used specialist rebreather equipment, which recycles the unused oxygen they exhaled and extends their air supply.
Under The Pole’s unlikely discovery of the first marine animal forest in the Arctic represents an important advance in Arctic marine science. The divers deployed their research program, recording the species inhabiting the forest and environmental data such as temperature. This knowledge is shared with an international consortium of scientists to help define the significance of this rare Arctic habitat as a biodiversity hotspot, and campaign for its protection. Without Under The Pole’s extensive exploration credentials, researching these marine animal forests would be a much greater challenge.
All photos courtesy of Rolex
