“RAMOGE exploration canyons 2015” Oceanographic Campaign
Great success of the ISPRA campaign trough the ship “ASTREA” to conduct an oceanographic survey to explore the deep habitat and study the biodiversity in the RAMOGE area, Ligurian Sea, from 16 to 23 August. The International Agreement RAMOGE, which is an instrument of scientific, technical, legal and administrative cooperation with which the French, Italian and Monegasque government implement actions of integrated coastal management, proposes to launch a study campaign of deep canyons in the water of the three States in order to collect information on the biodiversity of deep habitats unexplored.
The study activities, developed by French, Italian and Monegasque researchers took advantage of the scientific and technological capacities of ISPRA and were conducted with the use of the N/O "Astrea" of ISPRA, using multibeam and ROV (wire-guided Robotic Vehicle) Pollx III.
The study areas were two for each State included in the Agreement, and allowed the discovery of the presence of species and habitats not yet reported.
Specifically, the most interesting discoveries were found in the waters of Liguria, in the Canyon of Bordighera, with the presence of large tracts of sea bottom characterized by yellow madreporaria Dendrophyllia Ramea, black coral (Antipatella subpinnata) and some red coral colonies (Corallium rubrum).