ISPRA’s ‘Nautilus’ Discovers Coral Forests Among the Submerged Mountains of the Mediterranean
The images returned by the ROV revealed breathtaking scenarios: extensive colonies of red coral (Corallium rubrum) up to 900 meters deep, dense forests of pen corals (Funiculina quadrangularis) between 100 and 140 meters, and a surprising benthic biodiversity, with the presence of black corals (Antipathes dichotoma, Leiopathes glaberrima), white corals (Madrepora oculata, Desmophyllum pertusum), sponges and banks of oysters and giant barnacles.
ISPRA has successfully completed the first oceanographic campaign, part of the PNRR MER Marine Ecosystem Restoration – Intervention A14 Seamounts project, dedicated to the large-scale mapping of 79 seamounts located beyond 12 miles from the Italian coast at a depth between 150 and 2000 meters. On board an oceanographic vessel, the ISPRA team, ploughing the Strait of Sicily, documented eleven seamounts and banks, including Alfil-Linosa III, Avventura-Pantelleria-Talbot, Bannock, Bouri, Euridice, Madrepore, Pantelleria Centrale, Pinne and Urania, Cimotoe and Empedocle, most of which have never been explored and studied before, collecting crucial data for the conservation of biodiversity and the assessment of geological risks.