credit: ACEP Deep Connections
Cruise title: Deep Connections
Lead PIs: Prof. Kerry Sink
Location: KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Dates: April 2023
Caption: The Deep Connections team is researching coelacanths and their ecosystems.
Deep Connections is a project of the National Research Foundation’s African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme. This multi-disciplinary project will include several cruises to northern and southern KwaZulu-Natal with focused research at Sodwana Bay and Pumula where coelacanths are being researched. The Deep Connections team spans multiple research institutes and disciplines and includes experienced and emerging researchers working to revitalise coelacanth and other deep water research in South Africa. Focus species included coelacanth and threatened seabreams with ecosystem research taking place in submarine canyons, dense glass sponge habitats and in unexplored slope habitats on south Africa’s eastern margin.