Oceana Partnership Renewal and Channel Islands Expedition

Supported by Blancpain, Oceana successfully completed its first of three ocean research expeditions launched in the United States around the Channel Islands off Southern California. From April 29 through May 3 2024, the expedition team explored and documented the biodiversity that makes these waters globally important.

The expedition team conducted visual scuba diving surveys to quantify and identify species and habitats — including thousands of fish, invertebrates, and habitat forming corals and kelp — providing a glimpse into the biodiversity at risk. State-of-the-art low-light cameras captured high-resolution images and videos of unique, rare, and unusual species and habitats in need of protection. The expedition team collected water samples at 18 sites that will be DNA sequenced in a lab to identify virtually all ocean life inhabiting and traversing these waters. Successful piloting of a hybrid underwater vehicle FUSION demonstrated the promise of this technology to provide meaningful intelligence for ocean conservation, such as producing high resolution side-scan sonar maps of rocky reefs and identifying precise GPS locations of lost fishing gear.