The HERMES Story Shedding light into the deep sea
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Hermes Cover 6.6a 20/4/09 19:52 Page C
The HERMES Story H
ERME
S
Hotspot Ecosy
Seas
ean
op
ur
ste
Shedding light into the deep sea
fE
m
R o
es
ea gi ns
rc h on the Mar
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The HERMES Story
Shedding light into the deep sea
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ERME
H
S
Hotspot Ecosy
Seas
ean
op
ur
ste
fE
m
R o
es
ea ns
rch rgi
on the Ma
United Nations Environment Programme HERMES (Hotspot Ecosystem Research on the Margins of
P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi 00100, Kenya European Seas) is an interdisciplinary research programme
Tel: +254 (0) 20 7621234 involving 50 leading research organizations and business
Fax: +254 (0) 20 7623927 partners across Europe. Its aim is to understand better the
Email: uneppub@unep.org biodiversity, structure, function and dynamics of ecosystems
Website: www.unep.org along Europe’s deep-ocean margin, in order that appropriate
and sustainable management strategies can be developed
© UNEP, April 2009 based on scientific knowledge.
Prepared for For more information, please visit www.eu-hermes.net
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in
collaboration with the HERMES project. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The HERMES project, EC contract no GOCE-CT-2005-
AUTHORS 511234, was funded by the European Commission’s Sixth
Philip Weaver, Caspar Henderson, Stefan Hain Framework Programme under the priority ‘Sustainable
Development, Global Change and Ecosystems’. Thanks also
CITATION to our project partners for supplying images and graphics.
Weaver, P., Henderson, C. and Hain, S. The HERMES Story,
UNEP, 2009. For all correspondence relating to this report please contact
info@unep-wcmc.org
URLs
www.unep-wcmc.org/oneocean/pdf/TheHERMESstory.pdf
www.eu-hermes.net/publications_public.html
Photos
Front cover: ROV image based on a NOAA Ocean Explorer A Banson production
photo, and (clockwise from top right) JAGO (IFM-GEOMAR); Design and layout Banson
NERC-NOCS; MARUM/MPI; JAGO (IFM-GEOMAR); University Printed in the UK by The Lavenham Press
of Aberdeen; JAGO CSIC. Title page: IFREMER/MEDECO.
UNEP promotes
The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the views or
environmentally sound practices,
policies of UNEP or contributory organizations. The designations
globally and in its own activities. This
employed and the presentations do not imply the expressions of report is printed on FSC paper, using
any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP or contributory vegetable-based inks and other eco-
organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, friendly practices. Our distribution policy
city or area and its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its aims to reduce UNEP’s carbon footprint.
frontiers or boundaries.
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The HERMES Story
Contents
PREFACE 5
MAN’S DEEPEST ADVENTURE, AN URGENT CHALLENGE 7
GETTING UNDER WAY 9
HERMES objectives, goals and aims 9
HERMES work packages, the work package leaders and their institutions 11
The HERMES consortium 14
HERMES science panels and science-policy interfaces 16
HERMES study areas 20
WORKING TOGETHER 21
WHAT DID WORK... AND WHAT DID NOT 27
LIMITATIONS AND NEW OR UNANSWERED QUESTIONS 31
Top tips if you want to set up something like HERMES 34
HERMES facts and figures 34
THE HERMES WORK PACKAGES
1 Open slope systems 8
2 Cold-water corals and carbonate mound systems 10
3 Cold seep systems 12
4 Anoxic microbial systems 18
5 Canyon systems 22
6 HERMES GIS 24
7 Ecosystems modelling 26
8 Sustainable management and policy advice 28
9 Data management 30
10 Education and outreach 32
3
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The HERMES Story
Preface
M
Y NAME IS PHILIP WEAVER. I am Director of the open a small window for the reader onto these dark and
Natural Environment Research Council’s Strategic unknown areas of our planet, and the diverse seascapes,
Research Division at the National Oceanographic habitats and organisms found there. It should demonstrate
Centre in Southampton (NOCS), UK, and coordinator of the importance of understanding the processes, functions
the interdisciplinary EU deep-sea research project Hotspot and services of the deep sea, which are essential for the
Ecosystem Research on the Margins of European Seas marine environment and for life on Earth. It should also
(HERMES). inform about the threats and impacts that deep-sea
ecosystems are facing as a result of human activities and
If you have flicked through this publication, you might climate change, and the need for policies and management
have noticed that the main text – excluding the boxes – is measures to address and reduce these. Above all, it should
written in a narrative, personal style, which is unusual for inspire people to initiate or engage in future research,
this kind of report. Let me explain the background and especially in the 90 per cent of the deep sea for which we
rationale for presenting it this way. At the 2008 Annual have as yet no information at all.
Meeting of HERMES, I discussed with the HERMES partners
the preparation of the final project report, which we had to Having agreed on these ambitious objectives, we wondered
submit to the European Commission (EC), our major funder, how best to achieve them. Policy and decision makers are
at the end of the project in March 2009. Taking into account busy people with very little time and few opportunities to
the wealth of data and information gathered over the four concentrate on any one thing. They are bombarded with
years of HERMES, it was clear that this final report would be documents, reports and publications – so how could we get
a substantive, if not voluminous, piece of work. It seemed a them to read this one, and not just flick through and file it?
shame for it to be submitted to Brussels just for the benefit of We decided on an unusual approach: to write the main text
a few EC officials. Stefan Hain, who represents the United of the report in the style of an informative, interesting – if not
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in HERMES, pro- entertaining – personal story. The onus of telling The HERMES
posed that we consider publishing a kind of ‘illustrated Story fell on me as the coordinator, with help from Caspar
executive summary’ as a product for wider circulation, not Henderson, an Oxford-based journalist and writer, and many
only within Europe but also globally. other HERMES colleagues.
In the subsequent months, we discussed this proposal further. If you continue reading – and remember The HERMES Story
We agreed that the product should be suitable for policy and in your future work – we have achieved our objective.
decision makers with a view to informing them about the
main results, discoveries, lessons learned and highlights of
the research. But not only that: we also wanted to share with
this target group some of our passion and fascination for the
deep oceans. Deep-sea researchers are among the few
fortunate people who have access to the largest, most remote
and most ‘alien’ environment on Earth, and the report had to Professor Philip Weaver
5
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The HERMES Story
The dredging and sounding arrangements on board HMS Challenger. NOAA Photo Library
RV Polarstern on a HERMES cruise in the Arctic. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany
6
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The HERMES Story
Man’s deepest adventure,
an urgent challenge
H uman curiosity about the deep sea goes way back.
Some 2,400 years ago, Aristotle was dissecting crea-
tures dragged up from the depths of the Aegean. But it was
mation to determine whether and what the effects and
repercussions will be. In addition, we do not know the
impacts and consequences of climate change on the deep-
really in the 19th century that systematic study began with sea environment. If current predictions and models come
expeditions like that of HMS Challenger (1872-1876), true and major ocean currents are altered, decrease or stop
which studied deep-sea life in all the world’s oceans. Some altogether, what does this mean for the deep-sea ecosystems
of the traditional instruments and sampling devices – such and species that depend on them? Even without such
as dredges and nets – have changed little over time and are dramatic and catastrophic events, we know from obser-
still in use today. In more precise areas of marine science, vations of shallow-water communities such as tropical reefs
enormous progress was achieved only with the develop- that climate change weakens their resilience and acts in
ment of new technology, especially in the second half of synergy with more local anthropogenic impacts, often exa-
the 20th century. Satellites enabled vessels to navigate with cerbating the effects. This is a particular concern for fragile
high accuracy, even in remote parts of the oceans. By com- and vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems and biodiversity.
bining Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation with
detailed bathymetric maps, we can now find submarine Scientists have found proof that life and processes in the
features quickly, and can revisit interesting locations for deep sea are – in general – much more diverse, complex
repeat measurements. Another huge leap for deep-sea and fragile than originally thought. Nevertheless, there is
science was the development of remotely operated vehicles still a common misconception that the oceans, and the deep
(ROVs) in the late 1980s, which for the first time allowed sea in particular, are so vast that disturbances here and there
scientists to actually see and observe the sea floor in order do little harm. Only 100 years ago, the Amazon rainforest
to guide research and sampling strategies. was perceived as so large that no human activity could
threaten it. Today, we have already lost over 20 per cent of
Despite all the technological advances, however, over 90 its previous extent. The same can easily happen with deep-
per cent of the deep sea is still unexplored, and it remains sea environments and ecosystems, with one important
the largest and perhaps the strangest environment on Earth. difference: we cannot see changes in the deep sea directly.
We are only just beginning to understand the physical Unless we act now, it may be too late to rectify adverse
and biological processes that take place there, so increasing changes by the time we recognize them.
our knowledge is a matter of real importance and urgency.
With the depletion of resources such as oil and gas reserves Continued investment in deep-sea science is absolutely vital
on land and fish stocks in shallow waters, pressure on for making informed and solid decisions on how best to
the deep sea is rising. Technological advances enable protect, manage and utilize the resources and functions of
today’s trawlers to fish at depths of 1,500 metres or even our oceans in a sound and sustainable manner. The work
more, and permit exploration for oil and gas at 3,000 we have done together in HERMES has made several out-
metres. Other industrial activities, such as deep-sea mining standing contributions to scientific knowledge, but not only
and carbon dioxide sequestration to combat climate that: HERMES has also helped advance the way in which
change, are on the horizon. The potential and resources of science can be used by decision makers and the wider
the oceans are tremendous, but poorly managed exploration public for sustainable development. With HERMES, we
may lead to disaster. At present, many activities are being seem to have ‘got it right’, and I hope that our results and
carried out in areas for which we have little or no infor- experience will provide useful guidance for others.
7
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The HERMES Story
Rockall
Bank
Nordic margin
Celtic
margin
Black Sea
Catalan margin
margin
Adriatic
margin
Portuguese
margin
Balearic
margin
Cretan
Sicily margin
Channel
HERMES open slope study sites on the European margins
WORK PACKAGE 1: OPEN SLOPE SYSTEMS
Continental slopes connect shelf areas and the deep sea: areas along the European margins, using consistent
all exchanges of matter and energy between these two protocols. The investigations into the number of
major marine environments occur across the continental meiofaunal taxa and nematode species richness –
slope. Open slopes constitute only 20 per cent of the nematodes account for 80-90 per cent of total faunal
world’s oceans, but the biogeochemical and ecological abundance in deep-sea sediments – show, inter alia, that
processes that take place there are essential for the slopes can be considered hotspots of benthic bio-
functioning of our biosphere. Several goods, including diversity. Slopes are optimal systems for investigations
biomass, bioactive molecules, oil and gas, and services into large-scale and bathymetric distribution patterns,
such as climate regulation, nutrient regeneration and which could potentially guide the planning of biodiversity
food production, provided by deep-sea ecosystems are conservation in deep-sea areas.
produced and/or stored along the open slopes of Latitude and longitude do not necessarily influence
continental margins. Global-scale studies indicate that distribution: it seems that the spatial variability of
the functioning and efficiency of deep-sea and slope food sources and quality is a more important driver of
ecosystems increase exponentially where there is higher large-scale species distribution and biodiversity along
biodiversity, which suggests a positive interaction be- open-slope systems. Biodiversity patterns also depend
tween deep-sea benthic species. This has important on specific topographic and ecological features, as well as
implications: open slopes host a large proportion of water depth, accentuating the need to investigate further
the Earth’s as yet undiscovered biodiversity, and a loss the link between deep-sea biodiversity and geosphere
of 20-30 per cent of deep-sea biodiversity can result in a characteristics. Biodiversity turnover, i.e. beta diversity, in
50-80 per cent reduction in the key processes of deep- open-slope systems is extremely high, leading to an
sea ecosystems. elevated regional (i.e. gamma) diversity. Most samples
HERMES provided the opportunity to test several contained a different set/composition of species. There
hypotheses and enigmas surrounding deep-sea and are indications that this reflects high substrate hetero-
open-slope biodiversity. For the first time, a large number geneity and topographic complexity, a postulate that will
of samples were taken and analysed from various slope have to be examined further.
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The HERMES Story
Getting under way
T o help the reader understand and value what HERMES
has achieved, I would like to outline where we have
come from. As recently as two decades ago, deep-sea
BENGAL, ENAM and STEAM in the mid-1990s followed
by ACES, ANAXIMANDER, CORALMOUND, COSTA,
ECOMOUND, EUROSTRATFORM, PROMESS and
scientific research was mostly carried out by small, national METROL, amongst others. Such projects brought together
teams at marine research institutes and universities. Even leading experts from across Europe, and in doing so helped
the largest research projects typically involved fewer than to build trans-European communities of researchers in the
a dozen experts, mostly representing a narrow range of respective disciplines. But with the exception of OMEX, few
expertise. In the 1990s, that started to change. In Europe, of these projects had a significant interdisciplinary element.
under earlier Framework Programmes for research, the In general, the groups involved in one of these projects did
European Commission (EC) funded a number of inter- not talk very much to those involved in another.
national research projects and partnerships to study the
oceanography, geology, geochemistry and biology of the Several of us recognized that while we were gaining
European margins and deep seas. These included OMEX, knowledge in different, sometimes quite specific fields, the
HERMES OBJECTIVES, GOALS AND AIMS
HERMES was designed to gain new insights into the catastrophic events and to global change, and because
biodiversity, structure, function and dynamics of marine man’s exploitation of the deep European margin is
ecosystems along Europe’s deep-ocean margin. It rep- progressing rapidly.
resented the first major attempt to investigate and Some of the societally relevant questions that
understand deep-water ecosystems and their environ- HERMES set out to answer were:
ment in an integrated way by bringing together expert- • What is the likely effect of global change on an
ise in biodiversity, geology, sedimentology, microbiology, ecosystem’s ability to provide ‘goods and services’
physical oceanography and biogeochemistry. Study sites and on our attempts to manage them?
extended from the Arctic to the Black Sea and included • To what extent do human activities, such as fish-
open slopes as well as biodiversity hotspots such as cold- ing or hydrocarbon extraction, interfere with
water coral reefs and carbonate mounds, cold seeps, ecosystems?
canyons and anoxic environments. • How vulnerable are ecosystems to man’s intrusions
In addition to improving knowledge about the and how quickly are they able to recover?
generic relationship between environmental parameters, • How can we mitigate the negative environmental
biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, the aim of the impacts of man’s activities and reach a sustainable
project was to provide a framework for integrating balance in accord with the European Union’s
science, environmental modelling and socio-economic commitment to sustainable development and
indicators in ecosystem management. There is great international treaties?
pressure to improve understanding of deep-water eco- • What is the likely effect of global change on an
systems because of their possible biological fragility, ecosystem’s ability to provide ‘goods and services’
global relevance to carbon cycling and/or susceptibility to and on our attempts to manage them?
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The HERMES Story
Left: The coral community at the Tisler Reef, off Sweden. T. Lundalv
Right: Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata in the Sicily Channel, central Mediterranean. MARUM/University of Bremen
WORK PACKAGE 2: COLD-WATER CORALS AND CARBONATE MOUND SYSTEMS
Cold-water corals thrive in all oceans at depths of At the Tisler Reef, located in the Skagerrak at the
around 200-4,000 metres. They are known to occur off border between Norway and Sweden, benthic landers –
the coasts of more than 40 countries, a number which is metal frameworks equipped with an array of sensors –
steadily increasing as new discoveries are made. One of were deployed to study the (tidal) flow of water masses
the best-known cold-water coral areas is the North-East over the reef, and whether the corals change the quality,
Atlantic. Here, the ‘white’ coral species, Lophelia pertusa quantity and composition of suspended particles and
and Madrepora oculata, can build complex, three- particulate organic matter (the ‘reef effect’). The results
dimensional structures (‘reefs’; see picture above left), show a preferential removal of nitrogen, indicating
which form part of a cold-water coral belt stretching that cold-water coral reefs have an impact on the bio-
along the East Atlantic continental margins from chemistry of the environment, and are hotspots of
northern Norway to the southern tip of Africa. mineralization activity in the ocean.
The HERMES studies in the North-East Atlantic bene- The Mediterranean is known for its wealth of fossil
fited from the results of the Atlantic Coral Ecosystem cold-water communities, but has very few locations
Study (ACES), which was funded by the European with small, living coral colonies (see picture above
Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme. This right). Using state-of-the-art mapping combined
meant that in this area, research under HERMES could with observations by remotely operated vehicles,
concentrate on more detailed investigations of the HERMES cruises discovered numerous new coral sites
genesis, build-up and demise of deep-water coral com- during inspections of shelves (which are much narrower
munities over time, the environmental conditions under than in the Atlantic), seamounts and often steeply
which Lophelia reefs flourish, and the ecological func- inclined or overhanging canyon walls and escarpments.
tions these reefs have for other species and biodiversity. Measurements of the environmental conditions at
In situ research was supported by laboratory studies these sites indicate that the ‘white’ corals in the
on corals: Lophelia spawned in temperature-controlled Mediterranean are living close to their ecological limit,
aquaria, allowing documentation of the larva of this but nonetheless are not as isolated and rare as was
species for the first time. previously thought.
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The HERMES Story
lack of collaboration across disciplines meant that we research, and feed these into the EC in the hope that
were missing opportunities. Often, the reason or explana- some of them would later appear in the call (the EC receives
tion for a certain scientific finding, such as the behaviour suggestions from a wide range of sources in the lead up
of a fish or the existence of a cold-water coral reef at a to a call). In the end the call was published in 2003 and it
certain location, cannot be explained purely by biological did indeed ask for a large ‘Integrated Project’ involving
investigations. Information and input from oceanographers, biology, microbiology, geology, geochemistry and physical
geologists and others is needed to answer these and further oceanography.
complex questions.
FIRST STEPS IN PREPARATION
THE CALL It fell to me to coordinate our group and the preparation of
During the build-up to the European Union’s Sixth a project proposal – but it could just as well have been one
Framework Programme for Research and Technological of the others. They comprised some of the most outstanding
Development it became apparent that the EC would include scientists in each field and, without doubt, could have done
large multidisciplinary projects in the call it sent out to an excellent job. We thought long and hard about how we
Europe’s ocean science community. So a number of us could meet the challenges set out by the Commission:
began a series of meetings to establish how we could work • how to break the work down into a series of work
together. One task was to identify the key areas that needed packages;
HERMES WORK PACKAGES, THE WORK PACKAGE LEADERS AND THEIR INSTITUTIONS
The HERMES project is structured around 10 work packages: five focused on specific ecosystems, and five devoted
to themes that underpin the work on ecosystems and translate the resulting data into usable products.
COORDINATOR
Prof. Phil Weaver, NOCS
Project
Steering Committee
Project management Scientific
Dr Vikki Gunn, NOCS management board
WP7 Ecosystems modelling
WP1 WP2
Dr Karline Soetaert, NIOO-CEME
WP3 WP4
WP9 Data management
Open slope Corals and WP5
Cold seep Anoxic
systems carbonate Canyon
Dr Ingo Shewe, AWI
systems microbial
Prof. Roberto mound systems
Dr Jean-Paul systems
Danovaro, systems Foucher, Prof. Paul Tyler,
CoNISMa-ULR Prof. Dr Antje NERC-NOCS
Prof. André IFREMER Boetius, MPG
Ancona Freiwald, UERL
WP6 HERMES GIS
Prof. Miquel Canals, UB
WP8 Sustainable management WP10 Education and outreach
Dr Anthony Grehan, NUIG Prof. Laurenz Thomsen, JUB
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The HERMES Story
Upper left: Sampling chemosynthetic fauna
in the central Nile Deep Sea Fan, eastern
Mediterranean. IFREMER/MEDECO
Upper right: Macrofauna at home on authigenic
carbonate crust near cold seeps in the Storegga
region on the Nordic margin. IFREMER/Viking
Lower left: Anemones and basket stars colonize
the carbonate crust near Storegga, Nordic
margin. IFREMER/Viking
WORK PACKAGE 3: COLD SEEP SYSTEMS
Cold seeps are areas on the ocean floor where concentrations of chemical compounds around seeps as
water, minerals, hydrogen sulphide, methane or other an energy source.
hydrocarbon-rich fluids, gases and muds leak or The Håkon Mosby mud volcano is one of the largest
are expelled through sediments and cracks by gravita- on the European margin, measuring more than a
tional forces and/or overpressures in often gas-rich kilometre across. Active mud expulsion occurs at its
subsurface zones. In contrast to hydrothermal vents, centre and this is surrounded by an area of deformed
these emissions are not geothermally heated and are older mud flows, which indicate periodic mud expulsion
therefore much cooler, often close to the surrounding caused by temporal variability in the strength of the
seawater temperature. Cold seeps are numerous in geochemical processes. The release of methane often
European waters and can form a variety of small- to leads to the construction of authigenic carbonate crusts,
large-scale features on the sea floor, including mud pavements or slabs.
volcanoes, pockmarks, gas chimneys, brine pools and Most seeps studied under HERMES along the
hydrocarbon seeps. European margin display a biological zonation, with
All these features are geologically driven ‘hotspots’ of bacterial mats covering part of the sea floor in the active
increased biological activity. The seeps feed microbial centre, and larger animals occurring (often in dense
communities as well as specialized metazoan ecosystems patches) on the surrounding, older structures. However,
dominated by a few taxa, for example tubeworms and communities on different cold seeps were often found
bivalves with symbiotic bacteria, which occur in large to differ in terms of species composition, which indicates
numbers of individuals. These chemosynthetic biota are a high variability of ecosystem processes and associated
adapted to low oxygen levels and utilize the elevated biodiversity at different spatial scales.
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• how to study individual ecosystems; in our research proposal. This was, I think, one of the first
• how to integrate results between ecosystems; times this had been done with regard to a marine scientific
• how to create an interdisciplinary project where research project on such a scale, certainly with regard to the
biologists, geologists and physicists could work deep seas.
together;
• how to make strong connections with policy makers THE PARTNERS
and provide them with the information and data One of the critical things learnt from previous projects is
they needed; that you must be absolutely confident of the quality of your
• how to provide training opportunities for as many partners. First-class scientific capabilities are essential, of
students as possible; and course; but on their own they are not enough. What we
• how to publicize the results of the project as widely needed for HERMES to succeed was a will for the partners
as possible. to work together by sharing data, integrating their work
with that of other scientists from both their own and other
Considerable effort went into formulating our proposal disciplines, and taking on board the policy aspects of the
and we met in a series of locations. One of the earliest work. Partners must also be highly competent managers,
meetings took place in a remote, snow-bound hunting with excellent financial management skills and the ability
lodge in Switzerland. Another was held in March 2003 at an to deliver on time. Without the right management skills
old waterfront hotel in Buckler’s Hard near Southampton even the best projects can founder. Another important
in England. consideration for HERMES was the ability of partners to
provide ship time and access to specialist equipment.
ADVANCING EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL GOALS
The EC wanted to support research into the marine I was confident that we had the nucleus of an outstanding
environment through one of the ‘instruments’ of the Sixth team thanks to our long experience and the many dis-
Framework Programme. These instruments – or funding cussions that had already taken place. The HERMES
mechanisms – were designed either to facilitate a ‘Network scientists were all – and still are – leaders in their fields,
of Excellence’ or an ‘Integrated Project’. A Network is extremely organized, and well versed in what is required
intended to bring together a large number of scientists to for EC-funded programmes and projects. Equally important,
provide a durable structure for European research with much they came from many of the key laboratories and insti-
of the research being funded by the individual countries of tutions across the continent involved in deep-sea research,
Europe. An Integrated Project, by contrast, is created to do and so provided our group with the beginnings of a
new research, new science. At one stage it looked as if the representative and balanced pan-European enterprise.
EC favoured a Network. Many of us in the scientific The work package leaders were chosen from this initial
community, however, believed the case for an Integrated set of key partners. In a project as large as HERMES, these
Project was very strong. We knew that there was an urgent leaders would become critical – firstly to form the manage-
need for more research on the European continental margins ment team to guide the overall project and secondly to lead
and deep seas, and we were confident that we could do it. their respective areas of research or activity.
A good example of a knowledge gap that needs to be filled
is the impact on cold-water corals of bottom trawling for fish: We also recognized that in order to meet our aims it
we did not know how long the corals take to recover (if at was essential to include other players too – partners who
all), the extent to which they are part of a large ecosystem could contribute specific skills or expertise to the project –
complex that is important for fish reproduction, and so on. though of course we had to be careful to limit the number
HERMES had the potential to go a long way towards of partners to a manageable level. Before long we reached
answering questions like these. Not only that: as an 45, and as the coordinator I was getting worried: 35 would
Integrated Project it would help build a strong community have been the preferred maximum from the point of view
and partnership of scientists, with valuable benefits beyond of manageability. Even with 45, some good groups were
the lifetime of the project itself. The EC came to share this left out – not because we did not need them but because
view. At this stage in the process, we were also making a the size of the consortium had to match the budget
special effort to incorporate studies into the social and available. (See box overleaf for a full list of the HERMES
economic issues relating to hotspots and European margins partners.)
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THE HERMES CONSORTIUM
Partner Partner
No. Name (acronym and country) No. Name (acronym and country)
1 Natural Environment Research Council – 25 University of Birmingham (UNI BHAM, UK)
National Oceanography Centre Southampton 26 Netherlands Institute of Ecology
(NERC-NOCS, UK) (NIOO-CEME, Netherlands)
2 Institut Français de Recherche pour 27 University of Aberdeen (UNIABN, UK)
l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER, France) 28 University of Liverpool (ULIV, UK)
3 Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research 29 Doyuz-Eykul University Institute of Marine
(NIOZ, Netherlands) Sciences and Technology, Izmir Group
4 University of Barcelona (UB, Spain) (IMST, Turkey)
5 Hellenic Centre for Marine Research 30 Scottish Association for Marine Science
(HCMR, Greece) (SAMS, UK)
6 Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften 31 University of Aveiro (U.Aveiro, Portugal)
(IFM-GEOMAR, Germany) 32 National Institute of Marine Geology and
7 Consiglio Nazionale della Richerche Geo-Ecology (GeoEcoMar, Romania)
(CNR-ISMAR, Italy) 33 Intergovernmental Oceanographic
8 Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Commission of UNESCO (IOC, France)
Meeresforschung (AWI, Germany) 34 Université Pierre et Marie Curie – Paris
9 University of Tromsø (UiT, Norway) (UPMC, France)
10 National University of Ireland, Galway 35 Université de Bretagne Occidentale
(NUIG, Ireland) (UBO, France)
11 Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen- 36 Université Mohammed V, Institut Scientifique
Nürnberg (UERL, Germany) (ISRabat, Morocco)
12 Gent University (UGent, Belgium) 37 Challenger Oceanic Systems and Services
13 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (COSS, UK)
(CSIC-ICM, Spain) 38 Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research
14 Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per (VBPR, Norway)
le Scienze del Mare 39 Praesentis (PRA, Spain)
(CoNISMa-ULR Ancona, Italy) 40 MEDIAN (MEDIAN, Spain)
15 The Max Planck Society, Institute for Marine 41 MMCD Multimedia Consulting GmbH
Microbiology (MPG, Germany) (MMCD, Germany)
16 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 42 Olex A/S (Olex AS, Norway)
(CNRS-CEFREM/LSCE, France) 43 ArchimediX (ArchimediX, Germany)
17 Instituto Hidrográfico (IH, Portugal) 44 Proteus (Proteus, France)
18 Jacobs University Bremen GmbH 45 Jobin Yvon (JY SAS, France)
(JUB, Germany) 46 * Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas
19 University of Bremen (RCOM, Germany) (IBSS, Ukraine)
20 University of Wales, Cardiff (UWC, UK) 47 * P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology
21 Institute of Marine Research (IMR, Norway) (IORAS, Russia)
22 University of Gothenburg, Tjarno Marine 48 * Odessa National University (ONU, Ukraine)
Biological Laboratory (UGOT, Sweden) 49 * Lomonosov Moscow State University
23 University of Southampton, School of Ocean (MSU, Russia)
and Earth Science (USOU, UK) 50 * United Nations Environment Programme
24 Instituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e (UNEP, Kenya)
di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS, Italy) * became a HERMES partner in October 2006
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As for the commercial sector, we identified the key busi-
nesses that would do a good job for us – a number of small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with competence in
biotechnology, the development and manufacture of
specialist equipment such as remotely operated vehicles
(ROVs), and leading providers of economic and social
analysis, outreach and education work. So we did achieve
something of a balance between big labs, small labs and
commercial partners. We were also able to welcome five
additional partners in October 2006 by utilizing a special
call from the EC for targeted third countries to join existing
research projects such as HERMES.
WRITING THE PROPOSAL
The proposal was written in two stages. The first submission
was made in October 2003 and was limited to 20 pages.
It provided the structure of the project and an outline of
the research, but not the full details. We heard that it had
been successful on 2 December 2003 and then had just six
weeks to produce the full proposal, something that – given
the scale, complexity and demands of each of the work
packages that we envisaged – presented a real challenge to
timing and coordination. I would like to take a moment to
describe how we went ahead: writing a successful proposal
is not an easy thing to do and our experience may be useful
for others.
First, I called a meeting for the whole partnership – the first
time we had met collectively – on 17-19 December at the
Royal Holloway University of London, and 90 scientists
turned up. This venue was inexpensive, close to Heathrow
airport and therefore easily accessible. At the meeting we
went through in detail how we would achieve our project
goals and what each partner would contribute. It was an
intense but rewarding experience because we all began
to realize the benefits of working across the various scien-
tific disciplines. The research of one partner provides the
basis for further investigations by another, like a jigsaw
puzzle fitting together. I made the mistake of programming
parallel sessions so that we could get through more work,
but it soon became apparent that many partners wanted
Upper: A multi-armed brisingid sea star at a depth of
800 metres in the Lisbon Canyon. NERC-NOCS
Middle: Crinoids in the Whittard Canyon. NERC-NOCS
Lower: The echinothurid sea urchin Calveriosoma hystrix at
a depth of 1,321 metres in the Nazaré Canyon. NERC-NOCS
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HERMES SCIENCE PANELS AND SCIENCE-POLICY INTERFACES
Human activities impacting or threatening deep-sea composed of key European and international policy
ecosystems are rapidly increasing and require a policy makers, stakeholders from industry, NGOs and inter-
response. To facilitate this, HERMES developed inter- national institutions, and leading scientists. The SPP’s
faces to enhance connectivity between research and objective was to establish a strategic dialogue between
policy, and to ensure that stakeholders engaged in the the spheres of research and policy in order to develop
development of global, regional and national policies or improve mechanisms by which science was made
have effective and prompt access to HERMES results available to support and guide the agenda and priorities
and products. of international deep-sea policy debates. The SPP
The Science Implementation Panel (SIP) was made (pictured) met three times: in 2006 to discuss critical
up of seven members representing the key potential end- scientific, socio-economic, governance and manage-
users of HERMES results, including representatives ment issues for the deep sea; in 2008 with a focus on
from the European Commission (DG Environment, DG how deep-sea research can support ocean governance;
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries), the United Nations and at the end of the project in 2009 to present the main
Environment Programme, non-governmental organi- results and products achieved under HERMES, as well as
zations (NGOs), the hydrocarbon industry (StatoilHydro) the future work of the follow-up projects HERMIONE
and the Census of Marine Life. SIP members attended (www.eu-hermione.net) and CoralFISH (www.eu-fp7-
the annual HERMES science meetings in order to interact coralfish.net) under the European Union’s Seventh
with the HERMES community and advise on key political Framework Programme.
and societal developments, issues and milestones that In addition to the work of SIP and SPP, HERMES
might have had a bearing on the project’s research experts had ad hoc meetings with policy makers and
activities and data collection. The SIP also made sug- formed partnerships with relevant authorities at the
gestions to the HERMES Steering Committee about national and regional level. They engaged in and pro-
potential adjustments to the work plan in order to focus vided input to the discussions of numerous international
research efforts in areas with the most relevance to fora, including the International Seabed Authority (ISA),
pressing or emerging policy issues. the International Council for Exploration of the Seas
The high-level Science Policy Panel (SPP) was (ICES), and the OSPAR and Barcelona Conventions.
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The HERMES Story
to work in more than one research area and most of them habitats and variations in food supply, which govern
wanted to understand the whole project, which of course is the distribution of organisms and ecosystems. What should
crucially important. also not be forgotten is that not all environmental factors
and conditions can actually be measured, especially in the
Following this meeting, I cleared my diary and dedicated deep sea. So we had to find modellers who were able to
all my time to coordinating the proposal writing. Typically, bridge this gap.
I would draft a ‘ghost’ section or ‘straw-man’ outline for
each work package and send it to the respective work We also made special efforts from the outset to reach out
package leader for comment and rewriting. They would and link our project results to organizations and institutions
send the section back to me, vastly improved of course. But beyond the scientific community. Environmental non-
often it would be over-length too (each section had a governmental organizations (NGOs), for example, are
particular page limit and consisted of components from always calling for more research. Why not invite them to
several work packages), and I would edit (or ask other engage with HERMES from the beginning? Similarly for
colleagues to edit) quite ruthlessly. This process of writing industry: why not work with them to understand their needs,
and re-writing would happen two or three times, and concerns and priorities? A process like this that tries to take
colleagues in my own lab helped with the editing. While account of the interests and concerns of government,
waiting for changes to come back on one section I would industry and civil society at the foundation stages needs
be working on another. We did have to be quite hard on careful preparation and dedicated mechanisms. We decided
the writing in order to achieve a balance, especially since to have two HERMES working groups: a Science Policy Panel
the work package leaders were world experts in their and a Science Implementation Panel. As I envisaged it, the
field, and this led to some lively discussions about how Science Policy Panel, or SPP, would provide a high-level
and what could be fitted in. We also had to balance the forum where HERMES scientists could discuss issues with
volume of work to match the length of the project, the policy makers, industrial users of the oceans and NGOs.
budgets available and the expertise of the partners. Each The SPP would meet just three times during the course of
partner had been allocated an indicative budget, though it HERMES: once at the beginning to discuss what we were
was already apparent at the writing stage that partners were going to do, once in the middle of the project, and again at
willing to contribute additional efforts and assets from the end to show what we had achieved. The smaller Science
national resources, such as ship time and studentships. In Implementation Panel, SIP, would attend our annual science
the end the writing went well because people had faith in meetings where the SIP members could comment on the
the coherence of the overview. value of the work we had completed and make suggestions
to keep upcoming work focused on the key issues. This SPP
At the same time, we kept trying to think of how we could and SIP approach was quite innovative, I think.
break new ground. One of the key things we had to do
was create an interdisciplinary project where biologists, Another innovation was that from the beginning we took
geologists and physicists would share data and work to- outreach to education and media seriously via a dedicated
gether to understand ecosystems in the context of their work package. Our outreach work included, amongst other
physical environment. A good example of this is mud activities, a media strategy and the development of a
volcanoes, in which fluids are generated in the rocks separate part of the HERMES website with a wealth of
hundreds of metres below the sea floor by geological material produced specifically for schools. We also decided
processes and then migrate to the seabed where they feed that it was important to take teachers and students out to
biological communities. To understand how mud volcanoes sea: a hands-on approach to get them involved in our
work and what they mean for the deep-sea environment, research and give them a sense of ownership. After all, the
geologists and biologists have to work together. Another work should deliver benefits for the next generation, not just
good example is the study of submarine canyons, which for today. In one sense we were working for them. Through
requires expertise in geology, oceanography and biology. working with UNEP we were able to contribute to a TV
These canyons were cut into the continental margins by documentary on cold-water corals that was broadcast
geological processes and today capture sediment according every day for a week on the BBC World Service, thus
to the prevailing ocean currents, which they then channel spreading word of our discoveries to over 163 million
to the deep sea. These processes create a wide variety of homes in 200 countries.
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The HERMES Story
Sampling microbial carbonate chimneys in the Black Sea. MARUM/MPI
WORK PACKAGE 4: ANOXIC MICROBIAL SYSTEMS
Anoxic microbial ecosystems are found in areas devoid consumption, petroleum degradation and microbial
of oxygen, which precludes the existence of higher life calcification.
forms and hence grazing of microorganisms. Resembling By quantifying the biomass and distribution of
the conditions on early Earth, such ecosystems are found microbes in situ and linking these results to geological,
at and below the ocean floor, extending several kilo- geochemical, physical and biological measurements,
metres below the seabed, limited only when tempera- HERMES scientists provided for the first time answers to
tures reach above 120°C. It was estimated that about a some key questions such as:
third of all biomass on Earth thrives in such anoxic • What are the characteristics (e.g. ecosystem struc-
ecosystems. Hotspots of anoxic microbial life occur espe- ture, energy budget) and driving forces (e.g. fluid
cially at localized features such as hydrocarbon- and flow from gas hydrate dissociation) of active
cold-seep systems, where fluids and gases (e.g. methane) geological structures harbouring anoxic microbial
are released from the sea floor. The permanent absence ecosystems?
of oxygen in the Black Sea basin provides a natural • Are there unique key microorganisms and biogeo-
laboratory, enabling HERMES scientists to study anoxic chemical pathways involved in this biosphere-
microbial processes, including the formation of massive, geosphere coupling?
10-centimetre-thick microbial mats and the development • How resilient are these geo-ecosystems, how do
and structure of carbonate build-ups and microbial reefs they respond to external forces, and what is their
associated with methane seepage. global significance, e.g. as sinks and sources in car-
Anoxic habitats hold a great diversity and biomass bon cycling and gas emission to the hydrosphere?
of bacteria and archaea, many of which are still to be
discovered, especially in deep subsurface sediments. The large-scale integration of European expertise and
HERMES investigated and visualized the interaction laboratories under HERMES, combined with advanced
between selected geological structures (e.g. cold seeps underwater technology and modern tools of molecular
and mud volcanoes) forming habitats for anoxic life, and geochemistry and biology, enabled the detailed des-
microbial communities that impact these structures cription and more holistic understanding of the bio-
through their activities, such as gas production and diversity and function of anoxic marine ecosystems.
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HIGH MARKS BUT HEAVY SEAS
All of this, and more, was in the proposal we submitted to the
EC. The reviewers gave us a score of 29 out of 30 – an
approval rating so high that it was almost unheard-of for any
European project. At least one reviewer said it represented
‘tremendous value for money’. The Commission would
provide EUR20 million, but together with all the co-
investments from partners and Member States (e.g. ship time,
equipment and laboratory use), the overall project value
would be nearer EUR60-70 million. We were delighted, of
course, only to be all the more dismayed when we learned
that the EC had decided to cut its contribution from EUR20
million to EUR15 million. The cuts were made for budgetary
reasons, against the advice of the reviewers. Many people
were upset and in disbelief. We considered two options to
manage this cut: reducing the time we spent on the project
from four years to three, or trying somehow to deliver the
programme with three quarters of the funding that we
believed was necessary. We decided on the latter: the budget
for each work package was cut by an average of 25 per cent.
Apportioning the potential budget is always difficult when
writing a proposal. We did it according to the amount of
work each partner was expected to achieve (for example,
how many scientists and how many disciplines), the value
of the equipment they could provide, the amount of ship
time they could bring to the project and whether or not they
had a management role. Of course this is not an exact
science, but it is essential to provide indicative budgets
early to each partner so that their aspirations are kept within
reasonable bounds. I also tried to build the concept that we
should be linking national programmes via this project so
that partners would be able to add nationally funded efforts.
This concept worked spectacularly well. The project, once
it started, was so large that it captured people’s imaginations
and they wanted to maximize their participation. In a kind
of ‘snow-ball’ effect, more PhD studentships, ship time and
personnel were added during the life of the project, all paid
for by national resources.
Upper: A scorpion fish at a depth of 1,268 metres in the
Whittard Canyon off Ireland. NERC-NOCS
Middle: The common mora, photographed at a depth of
981 metres in the Porcupine Seabight. Oceanlab Aberdeen
Lower: A redfish (Sebastes viviparus) resting below a
colony of the reef-building coral Lophelia pertusa
at the Tisler Reef, northeast Skagerrak, at a
depth of 99 metres. T. Lundalv
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The HERMES Story
HERMES STUDY AREAS
Svalbard margin
Nordic
margin
Porcupine/
Rockall
Black Sea
Gulf of Cadiz/
Southern Portugal Eastern Mediterranean
Western
Mediterranean Central
Mediterranean
HERMES study areas
Coral Areas of mud mounds
Landslide Cold seep sites
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The HERMES Story
Working together
W e finally started work in April 2005. Notwithstanding
the size of our project, I was absolutely determined
that we would build a sense of shared ownership, a real
want to be in the middle of nowhere because people need
to escape in the evenings in smaller groups. You also need
good facilities and transport connections. That combination
team of which everyone felt genuinely a part from the very is rare. For us, out of season in Rhodes, Majorca and the
beginning. To make this happen, it was important that we Algarve turned out to be ideal. Our first annual meeting took
organized our yearly meetings appropriately. From the first place in 2006 after the first year of scientific research, and
kick-off meeting, which took place on the island of Rhodes it was also the first time for the Science Implementation
in April 2005, our meetings consisted of plenary sessions – Panel (SIP) to meet and comment on our research plans. This
everybody together: no hiving off into working groups – at was a learning curve for us all, but the SIP worked really
which the different work package teams presented their well. With the SIP experience, we arranged meetings with
work, and those from other groups listened and interacted. policy makers in Brussels to explain more details of our
We had so much to get through at the annual meetings that research, and to follow up their queries, such as how to
they usually lasted for five days, but with hindsight it was define areas for conservation in the deep sea.
time well spent, and we did take a mid-week break with a
field trip. This had the benefit of allowing the scientists to get The community spirit that began to build at annual meetings
to know each other. This is very important when dealing was strengthened by encouraging researchers from different
with a team of up to 150 scientists, many of whom did not institutions to join research cruises organized by others.
know each other at the outset of the project. On one, for example, we had people from Southampton,
Aberdeen, Cardiff, Liverpool, Ancona, Aveiro, Barcelona,
A number of people have said that they would much rather Cork, Ghent and Texel. Marine research, particularly in the
go to a HERMES meeting than one of the other big interna- deep oceans, can take you to sea for three or four weeks at
tional scientific meetings with multiple parallel sessions. At a time. This is long enough for people to get to know each
HERMES, everyone is together for all sessions, everyone is other properly. Some of the trips were specifically designed
interested in everything that is going on, and there is a great to cover a wide range of research, bringing several partners
deal of interaction between senior and younger scientists. together. This was not only so that we could share sophis-
The way to get people working together is to start from where ticated equipment to achieve things jointly that we would
they feel ‘comfortable’ and to explore common interests – not otherwise have been able to do; it also gave us a lever for
for example, spectacular physical and biological phenomena generating coverage in national and international media –
such as cold-water corals and deep underwater canyons – they were ‘showcase cruises’, where the public could get a
and carry people along from there to the wider issues and view of some of the best European marine science in action.
questions that affect these most remarkable systems. These cruises used remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that
are tethered to the ship with a cable, but are self-powered so
It really helps to have a good location for your meeting. You that they can descend to the seabed and make very detailed
ideally need a reasonably comfortable hotel because you maps, carry out experiments, collect specimens and take
are going to be there for quite a few nights, and people do numerous photos and videos.
not work well unless they can sleep well. The hotel should
be reasonably cheap because you want to get as many THE HERMES PROJECT MANAGER
students to attend as possible. For preference, it will be in a The importance of a good project manager cannot be
small town so that there are few distractions. But you do not overstated. It is a crucial position, and in no small part
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The HERMES Story
Adapted from CEFREM CNRS-University of Perpignan/University of
Barcelona, Fugro Survey Ltd and AOA Geophysics
Dense water cascading
Canyon axis - 100 m
Giant furrows
Bathymetric image of the Cap de Creus Canyon in the northwest Mediterranean,
showing the mechanism for dense water cascading - 800 m
WORK PACKAGE 5: CANYON SYSTEMS
Submarine canyons are major geomorphologic features heterogeneous array of large- to small-scale habitats.
extending for tens to hundreds of kilometres offshore, HERMES scientists discovered that the upper and middle
and just as impressive and spectacular as their counter- parts of the canyon have a rugged topography with steep
parts on land. Underwater, they dissect the world’s scarp slopes, overhangs, gullies and sediment-covered
continental shelves and slopes, connecting shallow terraces, indicating that particularly the upper part of
coastal areas with the deep abyssal plains. In certain the canyon is subject to strong currents, high turbidity
locations they are associated with episodic events known and sediment transport along the canyon floor. The
as ‘dense water cascading’, transporting huge water lower part of the canyon, some 120 kilometres from the
masses from shallow areas into the deep sea – vital for canyon head, is at present a markedly lower-energy
the health of fish stocks and ecosystems in both areas. environment, although coarse gravel layers indicate a
Although the location of submarine canyons is quite much more active past with catastrophic processes
well charted, until recently they were difficult to study capable of transporting boulders up to a metre across.
because of their sinuous shape, steep walls and narrow The great variation in morphology and physical con-
channels, which made it difficult to navigate observation ditions in canyons is reflected in their variety of eco-
and sampling devices. Dynamic ship positioning and re- systems and biodiversity. In the Nazaré Canyon certain
motely operated vehicles now make it possible to enter groups, such as sea lilies and gorgonians, tend to be found
and see the canyons for the first time. Under HERMES, a on exposed, rocky surfaces, while infauna and large,
number of canyons were investigated, including the shelled protozoans (xenophyophores) dominate the
Nazaré Canyon off Portugal. Named after the nearby muddy sediments at a depth of 3,400 metres. Diversity
town, this canyon is not linked to a river system. It begins tends to decrease with depth, and the biodiversity of any
close to the beach and extends to a depth of 5,000 given small habitat may be low; however, due to the sheer
metres some 210 kilometres to the west, providing a number and heterogeneity of habitats and communities
major pathway for the transport of sediment, nutrients over its whole length and depth, the Nazaré Canyon is
and pollution into the deep sea. a magnificent biodiversity hotspot in need of further
Along its route, the Nazaré Canyon provides a vast, research and careful, sustainable management.
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