Franck Gazzola, Searching for the deep corals of the twilight zone (-50m to -120m deep). (Doco/Photojournalism (2019))

The research work undertaken by the expedition ''Under The Pole'' is currently targeting the corals of the undersea “twilight zone”, which are hypothesized to be a possible source of replenishment for shallower corals reefs which are more and more degraded by the effects of climate change and human impacts. These corals live at depths usually inaccessible to divers (most divers will stop at -40m). Under The Pole pushes the boundaries of scuba diving and this deep coral survey is taking place in between -50 and -120m all across remote French Polynesia thanks to its 60ft expedition schooner called the WHY. This series takes the viewer from a bird's eye view of the environment, down to the depths where light pretty much disappears and where the divers will sample the corals they can find, and back on the boat where samples will be analysed, referenced, photographed (including in super macro). Already 1 new specie of coral has been found during the course of the first few months of survey in this unknown underwater territory.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.