Albatroz, Girard, Maria Celeste, and Formigas seamounts, and Santa Maria island slopes (eastern Azores): part of long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify VMEs in the Azores

Distant areas of the Azores EZ: part of long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify VMEs in the Azores

Slopes of Faial, Pico and Sao Jorge islands: Part of long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify VMEs in the Azores

Slopes of Corvo island: Part of long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify VMEs in the Azores

Slopes of Faial and Pico islands: Part of long-term strategy to map deep-sea biodiversity and identify VMEs in the Azores

Map benthic communities inhabiting unexplored areas around the Azores, identify new areas that fit the FAO VME definition; and determine distribution patterns of deep-sea benthic biodiversity.

Leg 1: 8 – 31 August 2020: Slopes of Graciosa island & Ilha Azul seamount

Leg 2: 24 September – 1 October 2020: Ilha Azul, Mar da Fortuna, Serreta and João Leonardes seamounts & W slopes of Terceira

Leg 3: 20-26 November 2020: Condor de Fora and Baixo de S. Mateus seamounts

Cruise report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5503634

The MapGES 2019 cruise aimed to explore ridges and seamounts in the Azores EEZ to improve understanding of the drivers of distribution patterns of VME and commercial deep-sea fisheries.

Leg 1: Horta harbour-Horta Harbour,23 Jun 2019-02 Aug 2019

Leg 2: Horta harbour-Horta Harbour, 13 Aug 2019-24 Aug 2019

Leg 3: Horta harbour-Horta Harbour, 27 Aug 2019-03 Sep 2019

Cruise report available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3727570