Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise has reached Saya de Malha, in the Indian Ocean, to study seagrass meadows and understand how to protect them.
In recent weeks, Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise has been in the middle of the Indian Ocean. More precisely, in international waters between the Seychelles and Mauritius, where Saya de Malha is located — the largest submerged bank in the world. On board, a crew of activists and scientists intent on studying its immense seagrass meadows more closely, which are invaluable for combating climate change and ocean acidification, but are under serious threat from human activities.
Seagrass meadows, formed by marine angiosperms such as Posidonia oceanica, are scattered across the oceans of the entire world (Antarctica excluded) over a total area of more than 300,000 square kilometres — roughly the size of Italy. Our knowledge on the subject is still fairly patchy, as the Independent points out in a feature on the topic. We know that, for the same surface area, they store twice as much CO2 as forests. We also know that they counteract the process of ocean acidification, create a habitat for dozens of species of fish and small invertebrates, protect coastlines from erosion and probably capture microplastics.
Not even these extraordinarily valuable aquatic plants are immune to the damage caused by humans through water pollution, uncontrolled anchoring and intensive fishing. According to Unep data, every half hour an area of seagrass meadows the size of a football pitch is destroyed somewhere in the world.
The seagrass meadows of Saya de Malha are so isolated that they have largely remained safe from pollution and seabed dredging, but they are nonetheless crossed by the routes of ships and fishing vessels, with all the threats that entails.
The Greenpeace expedition that set off in early March, hosting scientists from the University of Exeter, has the specific objective of filling the gaps in knowledge about these priceless ecosystems. While researchers collect samples to be analysed in the laboratory, the German space agency is working to improve the monitoring of seagrass meadows through satellite imagery as well. Only by relying on more solid scientific foundations will it be possible to protect them as they deserve.
