The submerged part of the iceberg

Meeting at the heart of the Concarneau shipyard, on the base of Under The Pole. It's in a room provided by the Explore fund that explorers put their bags down between two expeditions. Offices, workshop, warehouse, dining room and even gym, everything is there to imagine the greatest adventures. And being so close to the pier, all you have to do is cross the street to take a deep dive.

It all starts with a meeting: that of Emmanuelle Périé and Ghislain Bardout, during the Total Pôle Airship expedition organized by Jean-Louis Etienne in 2007. An epic airship over the North Pole, to study the ice floe, and measure its thickness. This adventure will be foundational for the two explorers. As soon as they returned, they launched Under The Pole, and developed a first expedition. Passionate about diving, they decided to review the North Pole from a new angle: immersed under the ice floe. According to Erwan Marivint, the general coordinator “the objective of this first expedition was to collect some scientific data, but above all to produce a witness report of biodiversity on site before it was too late”.

Indeed, there is an emergency. Today in the world, 30% of marine species are threatened, and this figure rises to 40% for species in polar regions. Moreover, the extreme conditions that prevail in these regions fatally reduce the number of studies carried out on site, thus maintaining the mystery of the polar depths. Meanwhile, the sea ice is melting, and unknown species are becoming extinct. In other words: something disappears before we even discover it.

“Deepsea Under The Pole by Rolex”, the first expedition, took place from 26 March to 10 May 2010. During these 45 days of adventure, the witness report was shot and then broadcast by France 3 and National Geographic. This highlighting of marine ecosystems is creating new hope in the world of research, and preparing the future of Under The Pole: a future at the service of science.

Thus, from the second expedition, the crew grew. Erwan Marivint says: “every trip involves researchers.” The geographical areas studied are expanding, and little by little, as scientists explore the vastness of the seabed, new research topics are emerging. It is by studying Polynesian corals as part of Under The Pole III that Laetitia Hédouin and Lorenzo Barmanti (both oceanologists at the CNRS) realize that the study of these corals is an essential subject for our understanding of marine ecosystems.

When collected, these coral reefs are called “animal forests.” Like terrestrial forests, they are the habitat of many species. Erwan Marivint is convinced of the importance of their study “in terms of biodiversity, the ecosystems sheltered by these spaces could prove to be as important as the equatorial forest”. Composed mainly of animals (corals, sponges, gorgonians), their development is not based on the principle of photosynthesis. They are therefore not limited by the lack of light, and take on their full extent in the mesophotic zone: between 30 and 200 meters deep. An extremely unknown place where the last rays of the Sun fade away.

This mesophotic zone is Under The Pole's new playground. A ship has been specially designed for the occasion, it is called the “Why Not”, and will allow the crew to dive up to 200 meters, and thus cover the entire area studied. To use this future ship, a new program is planned: for 10 years, Under The Pole teams will travel the world to study these submarine areas. Three regions are being studied: a polar zone, in the Svalbard archipelago, a temperate zone, close to the Canary Islands, and a tropical zone, in the Caribbean. This new expedition, due to its scale, has been recognized as a project of the United Nations decade of ocean science for sustainable development.

If their primary mission is to serve scientific research, these expeditions also look like a dream machine. However, to attract the attention of the youngest, there is nothing better than to make their imagination play. That's what the crew is working on with their new tool: the Under The Pole caravan. A silver tube like an “airstream caravan”, which goes from city to city to raise awareness among French schoolchildren. It is the showcase of the exploration program - “our only extension ashore”, jokes Erwan Marivint. Its purpose? Raise awareness among as many people as possible about the ocean and the need to preserve it. This mobile unit will first be deployed in Brittany, and focuses in particular on meeting schools far from the sea.

It includes a wide range of educational tools: virtual reality headsets, screens, expedition equipment, maps, photos, and infographics. When the caravan moves to an establishment, it is for a real awareness session on the importance of continuing research in this field. “For years, we used to welcome primary classes on our premises for awareness days.” says Erwan Marivint. He concludes, enthusiastic. “Now, we will be able to go directly to them, it's much more effective!” Crisscrossing the roads of Brittany, the caravan is just one more tool to share this passion for the ocean, and awaken vocations in the minds of the lucky ones who will receive its visit.