The exploration of mesophotic reefs continues!

On Thursday the 27th of May, Alejandro Pérez Matus, Rodrigo Alarcón Ireland and Vladimir Garmendia Fernández carried out a second incursion in Las Cruces, Region of Valparaíso, to find more locations and suitable places for future research.

On the first dive, the researchers found a rocky platform located at ca. 45 meters depth, where they observed several round rocks on the seafloor, the presence of sand and a moderate slope. They found a particular diversity of fish and invertebrates and an ideal place to deploy ARMS units (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures) in future dives. Remote videos using a BRUV system were also registered during this campaign.

During the second dive they descended to a rocky platform 35 meters depth, where they found a more complex seafloor of giant rocks, gravel and spotted the presence of red cusk eel, a school of Cabinza grunt, gorgonians, stars, sea urchins, among other species that have not yet been identified.

“In our first and second expeditions we observed that there are no isolated reefs at the site, but rather a large area of rocky platforms that seem to be connected to each other,” said Rodrigo Alarcón Ireland. "It is crucial to continue finding and registering new locations to study the ecological dynamics and connectivity of these mesophotic reefs."

Photography: Alejandro Pérez Matus