Sunlight filtering into a dark underwater canyon

Deep ocean research institute

Descendinto
thelivingdark

Abyssal studies the ocean below the light: patient survey work, native replanting, and a slower kind of stewardship.

Explore the work
Macro view of a coral colony

Our ethos

Let the deep
lead.

Field note 07

After the current

Research submersible descending
Reef restored
0 ha
Species mapped
0
Dives logged
0
Hours of footage
0k
BioluminescenceReef restorationBenthic mappingBlue carbonSubmersiblesBioluminescenceReef restorationBenthic mappingBlue carbonSubmersiblesBioluminescenceReef restorationBenthic mappingBlue carbonSubmersibles

Habitats

Threedepths,onecontinuoussystem

Each programme runs on a decade horizon. We publish every survey, including the ones that failed.

Mesophotic reefs
Zone 0140–150 m

Mesophotic reefs

Low-light coral communities that shelter species long thought lost from shallow water.

Midnight drifters
Zone 021000–4000 m

Midnight drifters

Gelatinous fauna surveyed by low-lux cameras, catalogued without ever surfacing a specimen.

Seagrass shelf
Zone 032–30 m

Seagrass shelf

Blue-carbon meadows replanted shoot by shoot along four kilometres of protected coast.

Seagrass meadow underwater
“Areefdoesnotneedourdesign.Itneedsourpatience,ourinstruments,andahundredquietreturns.”

Dr. Nadia Rahal — Director of Benthic Programmes

Move your cursor through the kelp below

Journal

01Silence at 2,400 m
02Counting light in the dark
03The meadow comes back