Monaco Explorations: reconciling humanity and the sea

Since its launch in April 2017, Monaco Explorations has conducted or supported many expeditions around the world.

“Monaco Explorations operates at the intersection of most of the issues that are important to me, and as such has really struck a chord with me. It is also a venture which reflects the best traditions of the Principality, and which speaks to all of humanity.” Prince Albert II.

Established in 2017, Monaco Explorations is an organisation whose objective is to lead international missions that combine scientific research, public outreach and government cooperation. Its action focuses primarily on protecting megafauna, safeguarding corals, making use of new exploration technology and developing marine protected areas.

During the period up to mid-2018, Monaco Explorations studied marine and island wildlife and analysed the disturbances that can affect it during missions to Madeira, Cape Verde, the West Indies, the Pacific coast of Colombia (Malpelo), Norway, Hawaii and Badu.

In 2019, Monaco Explorations supported several initiatives, including an inventory of megafauna in the seamounts of New Caledonia, an exploration of the Mediterranean sea floor at depths of 60–120 metres between Marseille and Monaco (Gombessa V), a study of the diving sequences of large cetaceans in the Mediterranean (Sphyrna Odyssey 2019), a study of the impact of ocean acidification on corals in Palau, and a study of deep-water corals in the Red Sea (ENCOR).

In 2022, the Indian Ocean Mission aimed to study the impact of climate change on the ecosystems of isolated regions little known to man, such as Malha’s Saya Bank. Departing from Cape Town, South Africa, an international team of scientists, artists and civil society representatives from all over the world took samples aboard the ship Agulhas II in an area encompassing the Seychelles, Reunion and Mauritius.

In doing so, Prince Albert II, with Monaco Explorations, reconnected with a tradition of maritime scientific exploration begun by his great-great-grandfather Prince Albert I, who was a pioneer of modern oceanography in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.