Tubbataha Reefs Deep Dive Expedition | Gombessa Expeditions - Blancpain скачать в хорошем качестве

Tubbataha Reefs Deep Dive Expedition | Gombessa Expeditions - Blancpain

In the heart of the Philippines lies Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Asia’s best-preserved marine sanctuaries. Its shallow reefs are world-famous—but its deeper ecosystems had never been explored. The Gombessa team, led by Laurent Ballesta and with the support of Blancpain, aimed to venture into these rarely glimpsed depths to achieve three main objectives: • SCIENCE: characterize Tubbataha’s mesophotic ecosystems using the innovative STEED methodology, capable of collecting data across multiple depths in a single dive. • IMAGE: capture the hidden beauty of these rarely seen habitats and the rare species that inhabit them. • ADVENTURE: achieve the first deep diving campaign in Tubbataha, pushing human and technical limits beyond -120m. Over 13 days, the team completed 13 deep dives and spent more than 200 hours underwater. They revealed 8 major ecosystems distributed along the reef slope, documented 108 fish species (including 10 never before recorded in Tubbataha), observed 17 genera of gorgonians, 35 sponge species, and 11 types of cowries. This pioneering expedition sheds new light on the hidden biodiversity of Tubbataha and provides essential knowledge to protect these fragile deep-reef habitats. #blancpain1735 #blancpainoceancommitment #underwaterexploration #Tubbataha #underwaterphotography