Monday, April 25, 2022
Since its origin, in January 2011, the philanthropic association of general interest OceanoScientific primarily targets young people in CE2-CM1-CM2 classes with the aim of making them RESPECT and LOVE the Ocean. To this end, Carla Di Santo, Scientific Coordinator & Diving Manager of theOceanoScientific Expeditions, assisted The Sea Workshop on Wednesday April 13 to take a group of twenty-four girls and boys aged six to twelve on a snorkeling trip to raise their awareness of the marine environment and to discover the animals of the Mediterranean shallows in their natural habitat. These children are from one of the programs offered by Synergy Family, co-founded by Laurent Choukroun and Frank Tortel, which has offered for more than ten years the opportunity for all kinds of activities aimed at individual and collective development. This trip to sea, financed by"Marseille Capital of the Sea", registered in operation "A step towards the sea", resulting from the collaboration of four partners: Marseille Capitale de la Mer, Synergie Family, Le Cercle des Nageurs and the CMA CGM Foundation. Thus, children learn to swim and live edutainment experiences to understand, love and respect the sea. Let us remember on this occasion that "Marseille Capital of the Sea" brings together the living forces of the Marseille city, whether economic, cultural, industrial, craft, sporting, gastronomic, environmental, academic, social, or institutional, to enhance the sea as an urban resource. The association team OceanoScientific is therefore happy to support this initiative to raise awareness of the major role of the sea in our urban lives.
OceanoScientific
eDNA Mediterranean
Expedition 2024
Wednesday 23 October 2024
ADNe at the service of coastal fishing
On the occasion of the last three environmental DNA (eDNA) collections of the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2024, carried out on the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites: MBSS 04 Nice - Promenade des Anglais, MBSS 07 Antibes and MBSS 09 Cannes - Iles de Lérins, an initial test operation was carried out with a coastal fisherman with the aim of comparing his fishing returns - what he collects in his nets - with the scientific truth delivered by the analysis of eDNA by the highly qualified teams from SpyGen. Their initial skills, combined with growing experience every day, provide increasingly accurate analyses. The results obtained from the marine DNA collections initiated by Pierre Boissery (Rhone Mediterranean Corsica water Agency) feed into the fundamental research work of Professor David Mouillot's team (UMR Marbec - University of Montpellier). But the Applied Research aspect is coordinated by OceanoScientific to provide free essential information to coastal fishermen, with a simple objective of general interest: “To promote sustainable fishing for sustainable food in short circuits”.
The eDNA collection team at the MBSS in Antibes, Nice and Cannes, from left to right: Justine Camus (OceanoScientific Expeditions Coordinator), Eva Delcamp (Marine Ecology Engineer), Faustine Le Moigne Broussard (Crew Member) and Corto Yerles (Vanguard - Suzuki RIB Driver). Photo OceanoScientific
While the Lagoon 570 catamaran LOVE THE OCEAN is moored on one of the buoys provided free of charge by the Cannes town council to the North-West of the Ile Sainte-Marguerite, the largest of the Iles de Lérins, the OceanoScientific team is preparing to collect eDNA on the MBSS 09 Cannes - Iles de Lérins aboard the Vanguard - Suzuki RIB, specifically equipped with unique equipment to guarantee the quality of the eDNA collections. Photo OceanoScientific
Once the eDNA has been collected over a distance of one nautical mile (1,852 m) covered at a speed of 2.5 knots to filter 30 litres of water, Justine Camus fills the filtration capsule, containing the filter where the DNA strands has been deposited, with the buffer solution (a secret recipe from SpyGen!) which guarantees perfect conservation of the eDNA sample collected.
Photo OceanoScientific
The quality of marine DNA collection depends on a series of procedures carried out with great precision. Justine Camus, OceanoScientific's operations coordinator, plays a vital role in ensuring that these procedures are repeated identically from one year to the next. This ensures that the data can be compared over time, enabling scientific observations to be made of changes in the marine biodiversity of a site. Photo OceanoScientific
Yvan Griboval (right) visited SpyGen's head office in Le Bourget-du-Lac to gain a better understanding of the eDNA sample analysis procedure and to organise collections along the French mainland Mediterranean coast over the next five years (2025-2029). This was an opportunity to chat with part of the SpyGen Dream Team, from left to right: Coline Gaboriaud (Head of DNA analysis platforms), Alice Valentini (Scientific Research Officer) and Benjamin Allegrini (Chairman). Photo SpyGen
Wednesday 25 September 2024
Two new Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites:
MBSS Antibes & MBSS Nice - Promenade des Anglais
With its catamaran Lagoon 570 LOVE THE OCEAN and its professional Vanguard - Suzuki RIB, the OceanoScientific association is setting up Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites (MBSS) along the coastline of the Région Sud - Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur (France), between Menton and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, excluding the maritime zone of Monaco. On Tuesday 17 September, environmental DNA (eDNA) was collected in Antibes (MBSS 07), then the following day in Nice, along the Promenade des Anglais (MBSS 04) as part of the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2024. Now, 38 active MBSS provide an opportunity to add to the inventory initiated and started in 2023 under the name of Mission BioDivMed by the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica water Agency with the scientific coordination of the Marbec Joint Research Unit - University of Montpellier and the support of the Spygen company. These two collections were made possible thanks to the financial contribution of Sophia Club Entreprises for Antibes and Mutuelles du Soleil for Nice.
From left to right: Cécile d'Estais, General Delegate of the OceanoScientific association; Étienne Delhaye, Executive Director of Sophia Club Entreprises; Yvan Griboval, Director of the OceanoScientific Expeditions and skipper of LOVE THE OCEAN, at the end of the collection of eDNA on the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site: SSBM 07 Antibes. Photo OceanoScientific
From left to right: Morgane Chavanier, Deputy Director General of Mutuelles du Soleil; Justine Camus, OceanoScientific Expeditions Coordinator; Cécilia Conan, Executive Assistant of Mutuelles du Soleil; Yvan Griboval, OceanoScientific Expeditions Director and skipper of LOVE THE OCEAN at the end of the collection of eDNA on the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site: SSBM 04 Nice - Promenade des Anglais. Photo OceanoScientific
"It is important to mobilize the private sector to back up the public entities, whose financial windfall for oceanographic research is likely to dry up as a result of France's economic situation and the drastic savings to be made", explained Yvan Griboval to journalists in Antibes and Nice who asked him about the relevance of such eDNA collections. "The involvement of private companies is a vital guarantee that annual collection cycles will be maintained so that the inventory of marine biodiversity (fish) truly reflects changes in Nature over time, especially when it is subject to major and rapid transformations as a result of the impact of mankind".
The collection of two eDNA samples over a transect of one nautical mile (1,852 meters) by MBSS, one on the outward journey and the other on the return journey, was coupled in Nice with the "fishing returns" of Steve Molinari, an inshore fisherman from Nice who tends his nets along the Promenade des Anglais. "Like all the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites, the one in Nice is positioned above seabed depths of up to 30 meters", commented Justine Camus, OceanoScientific Expeditions Coordinator, who is specifically in charge of the collection of eDNA. "Along the Promenade des Anglais, where Steve is positioning his nets, we are in the bathing zone, approximately 150 meters from the beach. So it is even more important than elsewhere to know exactly which species are sharing this space with the huge numbers of bathers who frequent Nice beach. By comparing the scientific data generated by the analysis of the eDNA samples, then their interpretation by Professor David Mouillot (Marbec Joint Research Unit - University of Montpellier) with Steve Molinari's "fishing returns", scientists will have access to useful information to enrich their databases in order to further increase the effectiveness of these collections. It will also be a practical tool for campaigns to raise public awareness of the need to protect Nature and encourage eco-responsible behaviors. That is the purpose of OceanoScientific".
Indeed, helping coastal fishermen to aim for "sustainable fishing for sustainable food in short circuits", a veritable crusade led by Yvan Griboval, is a medium-term objective. But the reliable scientific information that results from collecting and then studying the marine eDNA of a sensitive site - such as Nice's long beach along the Promenade des Anglais - is a fundamental element for immediate use by coastal local authorities. For example, if the Metropole of Nice Côte d'Azur wishes to establish a Marine Protected Area in this maritime space and define specific regulations, the scientific data provided by eDNA collections will be the only truly reliable data. This is one of the services provided by the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica water Agency to coastal local authorities as part of the BioDivMed Mission. Hence the importance of perpetuating these Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites.
On Tuesday 17 September, in front of the ramparts of Antibes, the OceanoScientific eDNA collection team is in action aboard the Vanguard - Suzuki in a strange atmosphere: clear skies to the west and east and, behind the photographer, the leaden sky of a very active thunderstorm flow that will break loose in less than two hours, coloring the sea an unreal blue...
Photo OceanoScientific
Wednesday 28 August 2024
Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites
The most important part of the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2024 was successfully carried out in July and August on 15 Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites (MBSS) along the coast of the Southern Region of France, in the departments of Alpes-Maritimes, Var and Bouches-du-Rhône. To date, thirty environmental DNA (eDNA) samples have already been handed over to the teams of Professor David Mouillot (Marbec Joint Research Unit - University of Montpellier), who is leading the scientific aspect of this innovative campaign in collaboration with Benjamin Allegrini (Spygen). The aim is to complete the major survey carried out in 2023, which led to the very first scientific inventory of marine biodiversity (fish and crustacean species) on the French Mediterranean coast, to which the OceanoScientific team contributed from Menton to Gruissan. This mission, coordinated by Justine Camus (OceanoScientific), was once again part of the BioDivMed Mission initiated by Pierre Boissery (Rhone Mediterranean Corsica water Agency). It was carried out in total autonomy thanks to the oceanographic logistics platform LOVE THE OCEAN (Lagoon 570). This catamaran sailed in total energy autonomy, without ever entering a port other than for the departure and arrival of the expedition. Every evening, the crew used the DONIA application, designed and distributed by Andromède Océanologie, to find an area free of Posidonia where they could drop anchor. It's an indispensable tool! A final 2024 campaign to collect eDNA samples is being organized by OceanoScientific for this September.
Thirty samples of environmental DNA (eDNA) were collected by the OceanoScientific team, coordinated by Justine Camus (right) with the help of Clara Bayol, a biology engineer (left) and Amélie Bayol (center), who was driving the Vanguard-Suzuki professional RIB. Photo OceanoScientific
Each Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site (MBSS) is identified on the map on the OceanoScientific Explorer LOVE THE OCEAN's computer and Yvan Griboval, its skipper, ensures that the catamaran is positioned at one of the ends of this one nautical mile (1,852 m) stretch. Photo Justine Meddah - Groupe Nice-Matin
For optimum conditions of work, the crew of the Vanguard-Suzuki prefer to collect the eDNA at daybreak, when the sea is no rougher than a lake. Photo OceanoScientific
The LOVE THE OCEAN catamaran (Lagoon 570) is completely self-sufficient in energy thanks to 2,000 watts of solar panels. It is also the logistical base for the eDNA collection team, which is protected from the sun and powerful reverberation by effective PhytoQuant suncare products. Photo Justine Meddah - Groupe Nice-Matin
Collecting samples of marine eDNA requires an extremely rigorous procedure, always repeated identically, as defined by the scientists at Spygen. The most delicate task is not to pollute the small suction strainer through which the filtered seawater flows. Photo Justine Meddah - Groupe Nice-Matin
The typical marine eDNA collection team is made up of three people, including a scientist: here Clara Bayol (center). This image shows the pump installed on the port side (left) of the Vanguard-Suzuki, filtering the seawater. Photo OceanoScientific
Thanks to a process designed by Yvan Griboval (OceanoScientific), the pump is positioned on the Vanguard-Suzuki in such a way that marine eDNA is systematically collected at a constant depth. The onboard scientist just makes sure that the flow rate is regular so that thirty liters of seawater are effectively filtered. Photo OceanoScientific
The route of the Vanguard-Suzuki must be perfectly straight, so that it remains above the sounding line (20/30 m) selected by Professor David Mouillot as a priority Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site. This is the job of Justine Camus, who is also taking note of all the observations that will be necessary when it comes to interpreting the results. Photo OceanoScientific
In terms of safety, the crew of the Vanguard-Suzuki is in permanent contact by VHF with the LOVE THE OCEAN catamaran. The Lagoon 570's logbook records the start and end times of the collections - two collections per Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site. Photo OceanoScientific
While the collection team carries out its mission at a speed of 2 knots (3.7 km/h), the catamaran LOVE THE OCEAN, which is being sailed solo by Yvan Griboval, remains close by as an attentive ‘watchdog’ observing the evolution of sailing conditions, which are often changeable in summer near the coast. Photo OceanoScientific
Once the environmental DNA has been collected by filtering thirty liters of seawater per section of the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site (two sections per SSBM), the scientist, in this case Clara Bayol, pours into the filter container a ‘top secret’ preparation designed by the company Spygen to ensure that the eDNA strands are perfectly preserved until they are analyzed by the UMR Marbec - University of Montpellier. Photo OceanoScientific
Wednesday 3 July 2024
Princely departure for the BioDivMed Mission2024
On Thursday 27 June at the Yacht Club de Monaco, H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince Albert II picked up the moorings handed to Him by Yvan Griboval for the departure of the second OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition. This expedition is part of the BioDivMed Mission launched by the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica water Agency in collaboration with the Joint Research Unit Marbec - University of Montpellier and the Spygen company. As soon as they left the Y.C.M. Marina, the crew of the Lagoon 570 LOVE THE OCEAN headed east to collect eDNA samples at the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site (MBSS) of Menton, at the eastern end of the French mainland Mediterranean coastline, along which no fewer than sixty MBSSs have been identified as far as the Spanish border. After the LOVE THE OCEAN’s return to its technical base in Port Saint Louis du Rhône, its crew will be collecting eDNA from around twenty Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites from Monaco to Carnon (Hérault - France) using the Vanguard - Suzuki RIB fitted with a unique equipment developed by OceanoScientific. It enables eDNA samples to be collected with the utmost scientific rigor.
H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince picked up the moorings of the catamaran LOVE THE OCEAN from Yvan Griboval as he left the pontoon of honor of the Yacht Club de Monaco for the launch of the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2024.
Photo Axel Ballesto - Palais Princier
Before setting sail, Justine Camus, Coordinator of the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition, Yvan Griboval and Clara Bayol took delivery of the Spygen kits for collecting the eDNA samples brought by Professor David Mouillot and Marie Orblin, Research Engineer at the UMR Marbec - University of Montpellier. Photo OceanoScientific
Just before the LOVE THE OCEAN set sail, Professor David Mouillot recalled the excellent results of the BioDivMed Mission 2023, in which the OceanoScientific association played an active part, and insisted on the need to repeat this type of eDNA collection every year on around sixty Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites between Menton and Banyuls-sur-Mer.
Photo Mesi - Yacht Club de Monaco
H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince and Bernard d'Alessandri, General Director of the Yacht Club de Monaco wished "Bon Vent" to the crew of the LOVE THE OCEAN, engaged for the second year running in the BioDivMed Mission.
Photo Mesi - Yacht Club de Monaco
Aboard the Vanguard - Suzuki, Justine Camus (front left) and her team on 27 June: Clara Bayol (back), Marie Orblin and Simon Huret at the controls, carried out the first double collection of eDNA at the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site (MBSS) of Menton. Photo OceanoScientific
Wednesday 26 June 2024
BioDivMed Mission 2024 between Menton and Carnon
Following on from the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2023, carried out as part of the BioDivMed Mission 2023, the second edition of this oceanographic campaign will leave the Yacht Club de Monaco on Thursday 27 June at 11.00 AM and will begin by collecting environmental DNA (eDNA) samples from the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Site (MBSS) of Menton, at the eastern end of the French mainland Mediterranean coastline, where no fewer than sixty MBSSs have been identified as far as the Spanish border. This OceanoScientific Expedition is part of a first cycle 2023-2027. The OceanoScientific association is a member of the BioDivMed Consortium set up at the initiative of the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica water Agency with the Joint Research Unit Marbec - University of Montpellier and the company Spygen. Under the scientific direction of Professor David Mouillot (Marbec - University of Montpellier), the OceanoScientific team will this year be collecting eDNA samples from around twenty Sentinel Sites from Menton (Alpes-Maritimes) to Carnon (Hérault) using the Lagoon 570 LOVE THE OCEAN fitted with a Vanguard - Suzuki RIB.
No fewer than sixty Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Sites (MBSS) have been identified, most of them as a result of the experience gained during the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2023 carried out as part of the BioDivMed Mission.
Wednesday 19 June 2024
Meet us at the Yacht Club de Monaco
Thursday 27 June at 11.00 AM
Following the success of the OceanoScientific eDNA Mediterranean Expedition 2023, the oceanography logistics platform LOVE THE OCEAN will leave the pontoon of honor of the Yacht Club de Monaco at 11.00 AM on Thursday 27 June, marking the start of the second edition of this scientific campaign as part of the BioDivMed Mission. The OceanoScientific association is a member of the BioDivMed Consortium, which brings together, on the initiative of the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica water Agency: the Joint Research Unit Marbec - University of Montpellier in collaboration with the Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle & Évolutive, the compagnies Spygen and Andromède Océanologie as well as the philanthropic associations We are Méditerranée and OceanoScientific. Yvan Griboval and his team, coordinated by Justine Camus, will begin this second mission to identify the fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods of the Mediterranean coast at the Marine Biodiversity Sentinel Station of Menton. On the occasion of the departure of the Yacht Club de Monaco, Professor David Mouillot (Marbec - University of Montpellier) will present the positive and encouraging results of the BioDivMed Mission 2023 and the future prospects for this strategy of a synchronized and standardized scientific inventory of coastal marine biodiversity: an innovation that positions France as a leader in this unprecedented ... and truly effective method.
