SOKOWASA, an oceanographic campaign to study the marine ecosystems south of the Fiji Islands, using the SeaExplorer submarine glider

A team of 6 scientists - French, American, and Fijian - will embark on R/V Alis, an offshore vessel of the French Oceanographic Fleet, from March 19 to April 7, 2022. This 20-day campaign aims to study the health of marine ecosystems in areas of ecological interest in the southern Fiji Islands. It will analyze the relationship between dissolved fluorescent carbon and the first links of the pelagic food chain (planktonic organisms). This scientific expedition will also be the occasion to lead the exploration project GLI-FI, by piloting an underwater drone, the MIO SeaExplorer.

 

The SOKOWASA campaign is organized by the French Oceanographic Fleet, IRD, and the CNRS-INSU, in association with the Center of Excellence for Sustainability in the Pacific (PaCE-SD laboratory) of the University of the South Pacific (USP). It brings together several partner laboratories: the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanology (MIO), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in association with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, as well as the company ALSEAMAR, designer of the glider SeaExplorer.

 

Named SOKOWASA, SOuthern-fiji-Kadavu Oceanographic WAter Survey on Alis (= "Going to the sea by boat" in Fijian), this campaign aims to deepen the knowledge on dissolved and particulate organic elements, and their relationship with planktonic organisms - phyto- and zoo-plankton - under the effect of continental forcing, for one of the most important archipelagos of the southwestern Tropical Pacific, here the plume of the Rewa River. The scientists, led by Cécile DUPOUY (MIO, IRD) and Awnesh SINGH (PaCE-SD, Fiji), will pilot the glider SeaExplorer along a 100 km transect between the passes of Laucala Bay and Kandavu Island. They will collect water samples on a grid of 20 stations surrounding this transect, corresponding to the extension of the colored plume observed in parallel by satellite. In addition to probes measuring classical physical parameters, the glider is equipped with innovative mini-fluorometers capturing different compounds indicative of terrestrial or marine dissolved inputs. This GLI-FI project is funded by the program LEFE of INSU.

 

Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, R/V Alis will not dock in Fiji, which will be reserved for the second campaign: SOKOWASA 2, possibly scheduled in 2023. In addition to the research component, SOKOWASA will provide data for Fijian PhD students supported by IRD through the ARTS program (Research grant for thesis in South countries) and studying the composition of Laucala Bay waters and the phenology of the plume from the Rewa River during heavy rain events.

 

The SOKOWASA campaign will allow characterization of the pelagic ecosystem in the south of Fiji, which presents a great variability detected by satellite and determines the fishery richness and the coral resources of a key area of the Fijian archipelago. SOKOWASA will thus bring a better understanding of the functioning of the marine environment in the south of Fiji. It will also raise public awareness of global changes in the Pacific and the vulnerability of the coastal ocean environment to these global changes, a research theme of the PaCE-SD laboratory of USP. Finally, thanks to a logbook put online and fed by the crew, USP put online and fed by the crew, USP students will be able to follow the glider's movements in the water column throughout the campaign, as well as the progress of the sampling.

 

This oceanographic campaign is part of a Memorandum of Understanding between IRD and USP, which will be renewed in 2022, and illustrates the richness of partnerships and scientific excellence in the face of major development issues in the South Pacific.

 

Scientific Team

 

Nagib Bhairy, Cécile Dupouy, Robert Frouin, Benjamin Oursel, Martine Rodier et Awnesh Singh.

 

Contacts

 

IRD Representation office in New Caledonia:

France BAILLY, Head of IRD office in New Caledonia | france.bailly@ird.fr | +687 26 10 00
Karla BUSSONE, Communication officer | karla.bussone@ird.fr | +687 26 08 04

 

MIO:

Valérie Michotey, Director | valerie.michotey@mio.osupytheas.fr | +334 86 09 06 34
Thomas Changeux, Deputy Director | thomas.changeux@mio.osupytheas.fr | +334 86 09 06 34
Anne Casanova, Communication Officer | anne.casanova@mio.osupytheas.fr l +334 86 09 05 91

 

PaCE-SD — USP:

Moira Vilsoni-Raduva, Communication Officer | moira.vilsoniraduva@usp.ac.fj | +679 2937 331

 

Heads of  mission:

Cécile Dupouy (MIO, IRD) | cecile.dupouy@ird.fr
Awnesh Singh (PaCE-SD, USP, Fiji) | Awnesh.singh@usp.ac.fj

 

Chefs de mission :

Cécile Dupouy (MIO, IRD) | cecile.dupouy@ird.fr
Awnesh Singh (PaCE-SD, USP, Fidji) | Awnesh.singh@usp.ac.fj

The SeaExplorer, an innovative underwater glider

The SEAEXPLORER underwater glider is a powerful autonomous sensing platform designed to collect water column data profiles with very wide spatio-temporal coverage (thousands of km and weeks to months of endurance).

 

Driven by buoyancy changes, the vehicle silently glides up and down the water column while collecting physical, chemical, biological and/or acoustic data depending on the fitted sensors.