VRENI HÄUSSERMANN, GERMANY/CHILE:
DISCOVER AND PROTECT THE UNIQUE SEA LIFE OF PATAGONIA
The icy, storm-ravaged waters of the towering southern fjords of Patagonia are one of Earth’s last frontiers for discovery, teeming with unknown life. Since 1997, marine biologist Vreni Häussermann has striven to lift the curtain on this strange and beautiful twilight world and conserve its marvels.
Working with her husband Günter Försterra, Häussermann has led a series of expeditions to discover and document the unique life and ecology of southern Chilean Patagonia. Previously confined to the uppermost 30 metres of the waters, she received a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2016 that enabled her to make use of a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), which extended her exploration boundary as deep as 500 metres, possibly even 1,000 metres, well into the zone of utter darkness.
Häussermann’s persistence over the years has been rewarded with a sequence of astonishing discoveries of previously unknown sea life and ecosystems, thriving in the fjords’ lightless ice-cold realms. Her underwater photography has unveiled creatures of breathtaking beauty, vivid colour and strangeness ‒ corals, gorgonians, starfish, crustacea ‒ living in elaborate communities where they were least expected.
Despite its remote location, Patagonia is affected by fishing and gleaning pressures, fish farming, chemical and nutrient pollution, deoxygenation and climate change, Häussermann warns. Some areas she has monitored for nearly 20 years have shown declines of up to three quarters in the keystone species that support these rare marine assemblages. She has also recorded mass die-offs of whales, corals, sardines, jellyfish and molluscs from unknown causes.
Patagonia currently has 10 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), only two of which are highly protected, with the others allowing salmon farming. Häussermann is seeking to convince the Chilean government to create a network of at least 25 MPAs throughout Patagonia. Häussermann constantly publicizes her discoveries in the hope of creating public awareness and support for ocean conservation. Her book Marine Benthic Fauna of Chilean Patagonia: Illustrated Identification Guide lists over 470 marine species discovered in the region so far, almost 15 percent of which were previously unknown to science. More than a hundred further new species are in the process of awaiting scientific description.