In a major step forward for Caribbean marine conservation, the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has announced it will participate in a groundbreaking international scientific expedition set for 2028. The mission will focus on the Beata Submarine Ridge, a unique deep-sea geological formation and ecosystem that lies in shared territorial waters between the Dominican Republic and neighboring Colombia.
The entire expedition will be hosted aboard REV Ocean, the world’s largest purpose-built ocean research vessel, which is equipped with cutting-edge instrumentation for deep-ocean exploration that far outpaces many standard research vessels. Collaborating teams of scientists from both the Dominican Republic and Colombia will lead on-site investigations into three core areas: deep-sea biodiversity, dynamic oceanographic processes, and the structure of fragile underwater habitats across the ridge.
To build a holistic understanding of this understudied ecosystem, the research team will deploy advanced sampling techniques to collect a wide range of critical data. This includes sequencing environmental DNA to map hidden species populations, measuring the prevalence of microplastic pollution in a remote deep-sea environment, and analyzing ecological connectivity between the ridge and surrounding shallow marine habitats.
Per the Dominican Ministry of Environment, the data and insights generated by this expedition will directly inform evidence-based conservation planning for the Orlando Jorge Mera Marine Sanctuary and other established protected marine areas across the country’s Caribbean coast. This work also aligns with the global 30×30 conservation initiative, a widely adopted international target that aims to place at least 30% of the world’s oceans under effective protection by 2030.
Dominican government officials emphasized that the participation in this cross-border scientific mission highlights the nation’s ongoing commitment to advancing marine biodiversity research and advancing sustainable, collaborative ocean management across the Caribbean region.