Mission Saving Paradise – Expedition to the Last Treasures of the Indian Ocean

The endless expanses of the Indian Ocean are home to the last natural paradises: Remote atolls surrounded by coral reefs in crystal clear water.

Whole regions of this ocean are still unexplored, many reefs are not marked on any map. The departure of the research vessel Agulhas II from the island of La Réunion marks the beginning of one of the greatest scientific adventures of our time. The expedition, initiated by Monaco Explorations with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, lasted six weeks and led into the Western Indian Ocean along the Mascarene Plateau. On board are one hundred experts who are among the world's elite marine scientists. On their mission, they discover never-before-seen creatures like the Dumbo Octopus and fabulous animals like the State Jellyfish, which resembles a floating work of art. Several hundreds of gigabytes of data are still waiting to be processed, but one thing is already certain: the expedition will help to better understand the physics and biology of the oceans and thus the consequences of global warming.