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INDEEPSEA Cruise, RV Sarmiento de Gamboa
Summary
The INDEEPSEA cruise aboard the RV Sarmiento de Gamboa systematically sampled deep-sea sediments and fauna in the Balearic Basin to quantify anthropogenic pollutants including microplastics, alongside biodiversity assessments spanning 35 years of historical data. Deep-sea sediment surveys are essential for understanding the ultimate sink behavior of microplastics and the long-term exposure of deep-water ecosystems largely inaccessible to surface monitoring.
The main objective of this cruise is to obtain the samples and data that are required to fulfill the goals of the INDEEPSEA research project, which include: (i) the characterization of deep-sea biodiversity in the Balearic basin including the generation of reference genomes of key species, eDNA analyses, (ii) the study of biological connectivity through the study of faunal communities and genetic flow among populations of selected target species, (iii) the assessment of anthropogenic impacts on deep-sea ecosystems through the quantification of pollutants (heavy metals, microplastics) in deep-sea sediments and in tissues of some target species as well as the evaluation of the health status of these same species, and (iv) to assess biodiversity trends in the deep grounds of the study area during the last 35 years based on historic data gathered by the research team during the last three decades. Samples and data needed include sediments, megafauna, macrofauna, plankton, deep-water, environmental data, images of deep grounds and topographic information.