On Rapa Nui the mysterious stone heads, or moai, survey a landscape known to have suffered overexploitation and ecological collapse. Surrounding the island, however, the coral reefs in both the shallow, roiling waters and the darker twilight depths are virtually unknown.
This March, in collaboration with SUBELAB Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a scientific team from the California Academy of Sciences became the first divers to study mesophotic ecosystems off Rapa Nui. This narrow band of ocean between the light-filled shallows and the pitch-black depths at 60–150 meters beneath the surface is commonly known as the “twilight zone”.
Bart Shepherd, Director of the Steinhart Aquarium, collects fishes and sea stars as part of the Academy’s Hope for Reefs initiative to research and restore coral reefs around the world. Data gathered during these dives will allow…
