South Atlantic wilderness: assessment of Tristan da Cunha's seabed biodiversity
Key Facts
FUNDING SCHEME Challenge Fund
VALUE £25,000
WHERE St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Summary
The Challenge Fund would support a dedicated member of staff to complete a meta-analysis of current knowledge, database this and analyse it to allow planning of 2 days sampling the most poorly known and potentially important areas and constructing an open-access website as a conservation and research tool. It would bring together Antarctic, subAntarctic and cool temperate experts to plan a seabed research cruise, tailoring it to TC priorities. Finally the award would divert the oceanographic research ship RRS James Clark Ross from its usual path of South Georgia-Falkland Islands-UK in March/April to pass TC and complete a first dedicated benthic survey below SCUBA-diving depths.
