This is the moment we realised what we were looking at.

During @nemo-tools.bsky.social ROV surveys to map gorgonian & coralligenous habitats, the seafloor suddenly turned into a landscape of circular nests, each guarded by a male.

We weren’t searching for spawning grounds – we dropped onto one.

🔊🌊 Great moments with the Scouts this week! We introduced them to our ~50 € hydrophone, handed out units, and dove into citizen-science together. Nothing better than seeing young explorers record their first marine soundscapes. 🐬✨ #OceanScience #CitizenScience 🧪

Same area, but now with the pressure visible: longlines, ropes and other fishing gear litter entangling gorgonians and covering the seabed. Chronic ghost fishing and structural damage that we urgently need to address.
#marinelitter #ghostfishing #MPA #conservation @thanasisnikolaou.bsky.social

Clip from the Tokmakia plateau (NE Lesvos): a mesophotic coralligenous reef with dense red gorgonians and complex bioconstructions. This is the kind of “animal forest” habitat our work focuses on documenting and conserving.
#coralligenous #gorgonians #oceans @skatsanevakis.bsky.social