Picture descending through rays of fading light into a purple-blue world, where shimmering corals flourish in silence and elusive species dart between formations. This is the mesophotic zone – a hidden frontier teeming with life that we are only just beginning to uncover.
As an IUCN Member dedicated to ocean exploration and conservation, Under The Pole is proud to bring forward, alongside 18 international co-sponsors, a motion on the enhancement of knowledge and protection of the mesophotic zone at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
The mesophotic zone, stretching roughly from 30 to 200 metres below the surface, is a twilight realm of the ocean: a world between two worlds. Often overlooked in marine research and conservation, this zone harbours remarkable biodiversity, including deep coral reefs and unique communities, and holds critical ecological value. Yet despite its importance, it remains vastly underexplored, unprotected and vulnerable to human impacts.
While much of the ocean’s upper reaches are well studied, the mesophotic zone stands as a new frontier for conserving our blue planet. This is a moment we cannot afford to miss – the chance to protect a vulnerable ecosystem before it’s gone.
Under The Pole has committed to advancing exploration, scientific understanding, public awareness and advocacy for the mesophotic zone through pioneering human-led underwater expeditions worldwide. Our teams – composed of divers, scientists and filmmakers – spend months at sea documenting and studying life at these depths. As divers, we feel a profound responsibility to be the voice for a world that cannot speak for itself.
This motion represents a pivotal opportunity to change that. It calls on the global community to strengthen scientific research, raise awareness, and accelerate the inclusion of the mesophotic zone in marine policy, planning and protection. By promoting this motion, we seek to build a coalition of IUCN Members and partners ready to advocate for more holistic ocean governance – one that bridges the shallow and the deep, and ensures no part of the ocean is left behind.
The IUCN World Conservation Congress offers a unique platform to elevate this issue. As the world gathers to shape the future of conservation, we believe this motion can catalyse tangible change by integrating mesophotic ecosystems into the global conservation agenda, and by supporting Member States, scientists and civil society in their efforts to act.
To those attending the Congress and those following from afar: we invite you to dive deeper. Join us in discovering this zone through our short film, which illuminates the beauty, complexity and urgency of protecting this lesser-known frontier. We hope it will inspire you, as it has inspired us, to champion its conservation.
Together, we can make a profound and measurable difference. This is a turning point for ocean conservation - we must act now. Support for this motion begins with awareness.
Discover our Mesophotic Manifesto, a public call to action, and help amplify its impact by signing and sharing it at: www.change.org/mesophoticmanifesto.
Together, let’s bring the mesophotic zone into the light– where it belongs – and never let it fade from sight or mind.
Film direction: Alexandre VIGIER
Footage: Ghislain BARDOUT, Franck GAZZOLA / UNDER THE POLE