Gilles Martin's exhibition "Pourquoi pas les Abysses" ?

Une porte ouverte vers un monde inconnu : An open door to an unknown world

IFREMER commissioned Gilles Martin to produce an exclusive photographic record of the macro- and meiofauna of the abyssal zone as part of the "Pourquoi pas les abysses? (Why not the abysses?) project. For more than three years, he placed a succession of polychaetes, echinoderms, crustaceans, molluscs, and nematodes under his microscope to produce spectacular images of 'creatures' from the depths of the sea, whose existence most of us are still unaware of.

Campagne de recherche sur le « Pourquoi pas ? » : Research expedition on the research vessel "Pourquoi pas?”

Gilles Martin accompanied IFREMER’s expeditions between the Arctic and France on the oceanographic research vessel Pourquoi Pas? It was a unique opportunity to capture images of what is an extraordinary miniature ecosystem. On board, he also filmed and photographed the scientists at work: taking sediment samples using the Oktopus corer at a depth of more than 6,000 metres, preserving the samples, and analysing the DNA found in them in the laboratory.

"What a privilege to be the first photographer to point their camera lens at species that have never before been described by scientists. I’ve been working on species at risk of being lost for over twenty years and what a paradox it is to be photographing species that are now being ‘discovered’”.

Gilles Martin

Presse : Press

Gilles Martin's report on the meiofauna of the abyssal zone was widely published in the international press (Stern, Géo, BBC Wildlife Magazine, XL Semanal, Nexus, Terre Sauvage, Chasseur d’Images, L’OBS, Sciences et avenir, etc.).

Exposition : Exhibition

The ‘Secrets of the Abyss’ exhibition was shown at the Lumexplore international scientific exploration film festival, the XXL Sea Festival, Nausicaá: National Sea Centre, and the Montier-en-Der International Wildlife Photography Festival.

Film : 

Produced by IFREMER and directed by Gilles Martin, the film ‘Pourquoi pas les abysses?’ was shown at the Deep Sea Biology Symposium at Océanopolis.Find out more about the ‘Pourquoi pas les abysses?’ (Why not the abysses?) project by scanning the QR code.

A bord d’une campagne : On board for a scientific expedition

The ocean is vast, so every opportunity to sample as many locations as possible is worth taking. As part of the ‘Pourquoi pas les abysses?’ project (Why not the abysses?), three researchers seized one such opportunity to do some sampling from 23 July to 10 August, 2018 on board the oceanographic research vessel ‘Pourquoi pas?’, just back in Brest after a mission to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.

Navire océanographique « Pourquoi pas ? » : The oceanographic research vessel ‘Pourquoi Pas?’ 

The multitube corer is lifted out of the water after taking samples of sediment.
Throughout its Atlantic expedition, the Pourquoi Pas? made regular stops to allow the team to use the multitube corer to extract cores of sediment from the seabed. The cores are cylindrical, measure 10 cm in diameter, and are around thirty centimetres in length.

Ifremer scientists Daniela Zeppilli and Sophie Arnaud-Haond remove a worm from the surface of a sediment core. Contrary to appearances, the sediment is teeming with life; thousands of tiny worms can be found in a single core... and that's just one of the groups of animals that inhabit the seabed!

Découpe d’une carotte de sédiment pour en conserver des échantillons : Slicing of a sediment core to store samples.

The scientists begin by cutting the cores into segments corresponding to the depths of the sediments being sampled. The samples are then preserved in bags until they can be studied. Masks and gloves are essential during these stages to avoid contaminating the samples with external DNA.

Julie Poulain, ingénieure au Génoscope, analyse l’ADN prélevé dans un échantillon : Julie Poulain, an engineer at Génoscope, analyses DNA taken from a sample.

Animals leave traces of their passage in the form of DNA fragments, which can be found in the sediment. Some of the genetic analysis is carried out on board. The rest is carried out after the expedition has returned to shore. It takes several years to process all the data collected!

Le projet « Pourquoi pas les abysses ? » :  The project ‘Pourquoi pas les abysses ?’ (Why not the abysses ?)

The ‘Why not the abysses?’ project is led by Ifremer scientists. Its aim is to develop a better understanding of deep-sea environments, and particularly the abyssal zone, located at depths of between 4,000 and 6,000 metres. These areas represent half of the planet's surface, yet remain largely a mystery.

The places that have been studied most are the unusual geological features, such as hydrothermal vents, black smokers, seamounts, or hydrocarbon seeps. The abyssal plains, on the other hand, remain largely unknown with more than 95% of deep-sea environments yet to be explored.

Carte d’identité génétique : Genetic identity card

When we explore these little-known habitats, we discover new species. But cataloguing all the species living in the abyssal zone could take hundreds of years using the standard morphological descriptions. Ifremer scientists have therefore used a DNA-based method called metabarcoding. This involves identifying a species from specific portions of DNA, called 'barcodes' because, like product barcodes identify products, DNA barcodes identify species by their unique ’genetic markers’. These markers can be found in the sampled habitats. Research projects use this method on land for bacteria and viruses, and at sea in areas close to the surface. But it wasn’t being used in the deep sea, which led to the question: why not use it there too? (Pourquoi pas les abysses? ("Why not the abysses?")

Des échantillons de tout le globe : Samples from all over the world

This question became the name of the “Pourquoi Pas les abysses” research project, which began in May 2016 and ran until the end of 2019. Another project, eDNAbyss, ran in parallel from 2017 to 2021. Its aim was to take samples of the seabed in as many places as possible around the globe, in partnership with research organisations in around ten countries. This research focused on macrofauna, which refers to animals from 1 to 80 mm in size, and meiofauna, which refers to animals from 42 µm to 1 mm in size.

Comprendre la vie dans les milieux extrêmes : Understanding life in extreme environments

This research addresses numerous topics. It is, firstly, about how life adapts to extreme conditions. Life in the abyssal zone survives in lightless environments at very high pressures. Near hydrothermal vents, it is subjected to temperatures of several hundred degrees ‒ and on the abyssal plains to temperatures barely above 0°C. The abyssal zone could also provide answers about the origin and evolution of life, which may have emerged in the oceans. And finally, these ecosystems are under threat from human activities.

An area of the abyssal plain covered with metallic nodules in the North Pacific.

The bed of a submarine canyon in the Mediterranean.

A hydrothermal vent or black smoker, the result of magmatic activity linked to the movement of tectonic plates.

A brine pool on the Mediterranean abyssal plain. 

Photographier l’infiniment petit : un défi technique ! : Photographing the incredibly small: a real technological challenge!

At just a few centimetres across, brittle stars, which are members of the starfish family, look like giants among the animals photographed. The nematode and polychaete worms are a hundred times smaller. At just a few tens of micrometres in size, they are smaller than a dust mite! Specialised photographic equipment was needed to produce images of these creatures.

Le photographe : The photographer

Gilles Martin is a reporter-photographer specialising in wildlife and scientific photography. He has written several books on wildlife photography. He also has experience in macro and micro photographic techniques, notably through his work photographing insects.

Gilles Martin, reporter-photographe : Gilles Martin, reporter-photographer, From 4 mm to 4 cm: macro photography

Macro photography uses a conventional camera fitted with a macro lens. Extension tubes or a bellows can be placed between the camera body and the lens, to move the lens further away from the image sensor. These accessories make it possible to get as close as possible to the subject and to focus in close-up. 
Camera equipped with extension tubes and several flash units for macro photography.

La microscopie à fluorescence : Fluorescence microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy is a variant of optical microscopy. Samples are prepared with a fluorescent agent. When this is illuminated with light of a certain wavelength, it re-emits radiation. The fluorescent agent can be applied specifically to certain molecules, such as DNA or proteins, to highlight them.

Image obtained using fluorescence microscopy.