Azores Deep-sea Research

Minuto Azul Escuro

30 short episodes about the secrets of the deep sea

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Minuto Azul Escuro is a mini-series that aims to raise awareness about ocean preservation and promote a responsible relationship with marine resources by presenting scientific knowledge in an accessible and engaging manner.

The deep sea, one of the planet’s least explored and most mysterious ecosystems, takes center stage in Minuto Azul Escuro, an innovative mini-series designed to enhance public understanding and awareness of this vital environment, by comprising 30 short episodes, each approximately one minute long.

Minuto Azul Escuro

Season 1 ( 30 episodes ready )

Capa Episódio What do we know about the deep sea?

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 1

What do we know about the deep sea?

What do we know today about the largest biome on Earth? What secrets does the deep sea, the vastest area of our planet's surface, hold? And what significance does this (...)

Capa Episódio Mid-atlantic ridge: The origin of the atlantic

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 2

Mid-atlantic ridge: The origin of the atlantic

Before the separation of Pangaea, all marine life inhabited a single ocean: the Panthalassa. In fracture zones, where magma rises from the planet's interior, the supercontinent ruptures. Over geological eras, (...)

Capa Episódio The azores islands on the route of great oceanographic expeditions

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 3

The azores islands on the route of great oceanographic expeditions

Its Atlantic geography placed the Azores, from an early stage, on the route of major oceanographic missions. In 1872, the HMS Challenger set sail from the United Kingdom on a (...)

Capa Episódio The azores plateau. Unveiling the potential of a natural laboratory

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 4

The azores plateau. Unveiling the potential of a natural laboratory

Why do the Azores provide the ideal conditions for all the deep-sea life that lived there? Torn by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Azores result from a gigantic geological anomaly. Along (...)

Capa Episódio Bathymetry, a lantern in the deep sea

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 5

Bathymetry, a lantern in the deep sea

In an era when we have a complex network of satellites to study the morphology of the Earth's surface closely, it would be impossible, for example, to discover a mountain (...)

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 6

Mysterious deep sea

Despite the advances in ocean exploration over the past few decades, a significant knowledge gap exists about the deepest parts of the oceans. By definition, the deep sea is everything (...)

Capa Episódio Half a mile down. The revolutionary campaign of barton and beebe

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 7

Half a mile down. The revolutionary campaign of barton and beebe

In 1930, Beebe and Barton made history by diving to a depth of 923 meters aboard the Bathysphere. Suspended by a steel cable, the metal sphere, illuminated only by a (...)

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 8

Coral gardens

When we look at a forest, we are not simply contemplating an exuberant collection of trees that produce the crucial oxygen for life on the planet. In fact, we are (...)

Capa Episódio Giving the body to the current. The importance of ocean currents in coral distribution

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 9

Giving the body to the current. The importance of ocean currents in coral distribution

The Earth's rotation, prevailing winds, differences in temperature and salinity, and the configuration of the continents, shape one of the most influential force systems on our planet: ocean currents. However, (...)

Capa Episódio Soft ground. The biodiversity beyond rocky bottoms

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 10

Soft ground. The biodiversity beyond rocky bottoms

As magma rises from the Earth's interior along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, new oceanic crust forms, pushing the older seafloor outwards. Exposed to a rain of particles falling along the water (...)

Capa Episódio Newly discovered seamounts. A dynamic history of outcrop and erosion

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 11

Newly discovered seamounts. A dynamic history of outcrop and erosion

Surrounded by the Atlantic, the Azoreans have always considered the sea an important source of livelihood. The abundance of fish in the region's underwater mountains led these men on long (...)

Capa Episódio Black corals. Elders of the deep sea

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 12

Black corals. Elders of the deep sea

The history of this lush planet goes far beyond the history of Man and our perception of time. For example, on the day of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, the oldest black (...)

Capa Episódio The pre-jurassic world of azorean sponges

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 13

The pre-jurassic world of azorean sponges

Illustrations inspired by the twists and turns of evolutionary theory are the most widespread glimpse of what the planet might have looked like millions of years ago. A study published (...)

Capa Episódio Black smokers. An opening to new life forms

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 14

Black smokers. An opening to new life forms

Light. Until recently, we believed that all life on Earth depended on sunlight. But could life thrive independently of photosynthesis? To the surprise of the scientific community, in 1977, a (...)

Capa Episódio The luso on the giant. The first hydrothermal vent discovered by a portuguese team

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 15

The luso on the giant. The first hydrothermal vent discovered by a portuguese team

Since their discovery in 1979, hydrothermal vents have sparked significant scientific interest. As expeditions intensified, new hydrothermal fields were discovered, always associated with oceanic ridges and supporting exotic chemosynthetic environments. (...)

Capa Episódio Ocean x. The importance of oceanographic missions in adsr's work

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 16

Ocean x. The importance of oceanographic missions in adsr's work

In recent decades, deep-sea exploration technology has advanced in remarkable ways. Oceanographic vessels, such as the OceanXplorer, one of the most technologically advanced, operated by highly skilled crews, now allow (...)

Capa Episódio Portugal in the democratization of deep-sea exploration

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 17

Portugal in the democratization of deep-sea exploration

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development calls for equity in global scientific capacity to explore the oceans. Despite the high-definition observations made aboard expensive and hard-to-access (...)

Capa Episódio Discovering the unexplored

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 18

Discovering the unexplored

The numerous deep-sea missions conducted by the Azores deep-sea research group from the OKEANOS Institute resulted in hundreds of hours of video footage from locations never before visited by humans. (...)

Capa Episódio Internationalizing an effective tool

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 19

Internationalizing an effective tool

The publication of the scientific paper that outlined the construction and operation manual for the Azor Drift-Cam was a crucial step in taking this video tool on an odyssey to (...)

Capa Episódio Deep-sea crabs. A life of camouflage

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 20

Deep-sea crabs. A life of camouflage

Living in the twilight zone and escaping the predators that patrol these rocky depths can require great creativity. Crustaceans are among the most desired delicacies for deep-sea fish, and speed (...)

Capa Episódio The beauty sharks. The business threatening the kitefin shark

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 21

The beauty sharks. The business threatening the kitefin shark

Aging. The inevitable reality of life that the multi-million-dollar cosmetics industry relentlessly exploits. Our daily confrontation with the image in the mirror shows us aging skin, constantly reinforcing the idea (...)

Capa Episódio Orange roughy. A new era in the exploration of azorean marine resources

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 22

Orange roughy. A new era in the exploration of azorean marine resources

In the power struggle between Man and the Sea, the balance between conservation and exploitation is an unbreakable value. The clockfish, a vulnerable species that grows slowly and reaches 80 (...)

Capa Episódio Vertical walls. A refuge for vulnerable species

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 23

Vertical walls. A refuge for vulnerable species

The banks in the sea surrounding the Azorean islands are undeniably crucial for regional fishing. The resources that thrive on these underwater structures justify the journeys made by small vessels (...)

Capa Episódio Coleta. 50 years of regional oceanic history

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 24

Coleta. 50 years of regional oceanic history

With the creation of the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries at the University of the Azores in 1976, an important path of species collection and preservation from the Azorean Sea (...)

Capa Episódio The azores in the holocene. How the shift to this interglaciation may have altered deep-sea life in the azores

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 25

The azores in the holocene. How the shift to this interglaciation may have altered deep-sea life in the azores

Among the mysteries that the deep waters of the Azores are revealing, one pattern particularly piques the interest of scientists. Scattered across the region, coral and sponge graveyards stretch as (...)

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 26

Impact of climate change

The enigmatic life that the deep sea harbors is both beautiful and vulnerable. The millennial stability of the properties of water masses and ocean currents has shaped the distribution of (...)

Capa Episódio The billion-dollar mineral extraction industry: Expanding what is expandable

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 27

The billion-dollar mineral extraction industry: Expanding what is expandable

As industrial production grows at a relentless pace, we need to discover new reserves of raw materials. On a finite planet, we are expanding the extraction areas for geological resources, (...)

Capa Episódio Deep-sea mining: A catastrophe on the seafloor

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 28

Deep-sea mining: A catastrophe on the seafloor

On January 10, 2024, global news reported that the Norwegian parliament had approved deep-sea mining in the Arctic against the objections of the international scientific community. But what environmental impacts (...)

Capa Episódio Trash rain. How might the vastness of the deep sea we don't yet know surprise us?

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 29

Trash rain. How might the vastness of the deep sea we don't yet know surprise us?

Through the action of ultraviolet rays, plastic floating on the ocean's surface is gradually fragmented into smaller particles. Some of these microplastics eventually sink, settling in the deep zones of (...)

Capa Episódio The more we know, the better we decide. Scientific knowledge in support of decision-making

Minuto Azul Escuro

Episode 30

The more we know, the better we decide. Scientific knowledge in support of decision-making

How can we make effective decisions about the deep sea when it is so little known? The level of detail with which we build our perception of a marine resource (...)

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Developed as part of a deep-sea characterization project funded by the Regional Government of the Azores, Minuto Azul Escuro invites viewers to explore the unknown — one minute at a time.

Filmed between March 2023 and February 2024, directed by PEPE BRIX, at the Okeanos facilities, in the city of Horta, and aboard oceanographic ships, the new series showcases stunning images of the deep sea captured by our Azor drift-cam, manned submarines and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), using the most advanced oceanographic platforms, such as the RV OceanXplorer from the OceanX and the RV Okeanos Explorer from NOAA.

Special thanks to