Expanses of coral reefs, giant starfish, deep-sea urchins, sponges… these are some of the species discovered by researchers from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, seven miles off the coast of Avilés, at the bottom of the canyon.

Thanks to state-of-the-art technological equipment, the scientists participating in the latest campaign of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project, on board the ship “Ángeles Alvariño”, have been able to capture video images of the seabed at a depth of between 2,000 and 1,300 metres. In this way, progress has been made in the study of vulnerable species located in three-dimensional biogenic arrangements, protected in European Union directives.

With these images, a new inventory has been carried out, including some species hitherto apparently unknown. On the other hand, during the expedition, some samples of the fauna and flora that are part of the marine biodiversity of the depths of the Cantabrian Sea have been obtained.