The Chinese research vessel Deep Sea No. 1 set off from Qingdao in eastern China early this month, carrying the manned submersible Jiaolong and headed for a deep-sea scientific expedition in the western Pacific Ocean, a China News Service report says.
The expedition involves international scientists for the first time and aims to study the biodiversity and environment of typical deep-sea habitats. Jiaolong, a China-developed submersible that can reach 7,000 metres below the sea surface, allows scientists to probe the environment and ecosystems of seamounts and the animals living on them.
The vessel arrived in the first operation area in the Western Pacific Ocean on 17 August, according to a CCTV report. The day after, Jiaolong made its 300th dive since its first deployment in 2009, a milestone celebrated in several Chinese media outlets.
A Colombian scientist then joined Chinese submariners for another dive to investigate organisms on the seamount ridges and collect samples of vulnerable species, seabed sediments, rocks, and seawater.
The National Deep-Sea Center’s deputy director, Xu Xuewei, told China News Service that the expedition would enhance scientific understanding of the deep-sea biodiversity and ecosystem in the surveyed areas. The knowledge gained would feed into a scientific project called Digital Deep-Sea Typical Habitats (Digital DEPTH), he added.
Digital DEPTH is a China-led research programme under the UN Ocean Decade framework. It focuses on four types of deep-sea habitats that are vulnerable to human activities and global changes – seamounts, mid-ocean ridges, continental slopes and abyssal plains.
The programme aims to improve scientists’ ability to observe, simulate and map these typical deep-sea habitats, and to help foster a balance between deep-sea protection and sustainable development. This is especially important as China and other nations explore the nascent potential of deep sea mining.