In numerous Pacific societies, women are acknowledged as key holders of navigational expertise. They mastered advanced techniques of celestial navigation, relying on the positions of stars, the sun, and the moon, as well as piloting skills that involved interpreting and utilizing local and seasonal weather patterns. Polynesians also had a profound understanding of their surroundings, recognizing plant and animal species unique to particular islands. This knowledge enabled them to predict the type of land they were approaching and gauge its distance. By identifying these biological signs, they could foresee the characteristics of the land ahead and navigate with impressive accuracy. This deep ecological understanding not only guided their voyages but was also vital in managing resources and practicing environmental stewardship.

This presentation will delve into how, as global environmental challenges grow more pressing, incorporating the principles of Ocean diplomacy alongside the rich navigational traditions of Pacific cultures—especially the knowledge and contributions of Indigenous women—can provide a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to addressing environmental security issues on a global scale. By showcasing and integrating these traditional practices and holistic worldviews, this presentation seeks to enhance international strategies, creating solutions that are culturally sensitive and more effective in dealing with environmental conflicts and safeguarding ocean security.

How to cite: Pérez Álvaro, E.: Ocean Diplomacy: Integrating the Navigational Heritage of Polynesian Women into Environmental Security Strategies, One Ocean Science Congress 2025, Nice, France, 3–6 Jun 2025, OOS2025-1, https://doi.org/10.5194/oos2025-1, 2025.

This presentation provides an overview of the importance of Indigenous marine areas around the world. Critical to the implementation of several global conservation and climate agreements is the understanding of the scale, location, and conservation values of the oceans over which Indigenous Peoples exercise traditional rights. However, spatial information on Indigenous waters, lagoon and oceans has never been aggregated at a global scale. Thus, using publicly available geospatial resources, we show the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ management or tenure rights over the ocean and various seascapes. It concludes that marine spaces over which Indigenous peoples exercise some degree of management, autonomously or shared, are far more extensive than is generally acknowledged in the literature. The presentation argues that vast geographical extent and ecological variation of marine areas with some degree of Indigenous management, plus the variety of effective, multi-party management regimes contained within such marine managed areas, hold valuable lessons for effective, cooperative marine conservation and restoration. The geospatial analysis presented indicates that strategic collaborative partnerships  would provide significant benefits for the conservation and sustainability of seascapes, marine ecosystems, and the culture of local communities.

How to cite: Bambridge, T., D'arcy, P., and Mawyer, A.: Mapping indigenous seas:  defining and plotting indigenous sovereignty, governance and management in fluid seas, One Ocean Science Congress 2025, Nice, France, 3–6 Jun 2025, OOS2025-945, https://doi.org/10.5194/oos2025-945, 2025.

Our communication examines the depiction of aquatic life in art and its significance for understanding human interactions with marine ecosystems over time. Historically, artistic representations have portrayed the ocean as an inexhaustible resource, reflecting societal attitudes towards the environment.

The human connection with aquatic environments is ancient, as evidenced by Neanderthal remains and early depictions of marine species. Greek and Roman arts, with rich mythologies and detailed representations, demonstrate early engagement with marine life. Later, the Renaissance and 17th-century still-life paintings in the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy saw a flourishing of detailed depictions of marine creatures. This shift in artistic focus continued into contemporary art, where representations are less about realism and more about exploring human perceptions and imaginations of the ocean. Such artworks provide insights into how modern societies grapple with environmental degradation and their desire to reconnect with nature.

Our works highlights the growing relevance of environmental history in biodiversity conservation. By examining artworks from different historical periods, we collected valuable data about past ecosystems. For example, depictions of freshwater fish in 17th-century paintings align with observed declines in specific species like sturgeon and salmon. This correlation between artists' regional backgrounds and the species they depicted underscores the reliability of art as a historical record.

We also argue that the sensory and emotional impact of art can evoke strong responses in viewers, connecting them to memories and experiences of nature. This dimension is crucial in fostering respectful relationships with the natural world, yet it is often overlooked in conservation discourse. Initiatives like the collaborative book Merveilles aquatiques, l’art de représenter le vivant aim to bridge art and science, promoting new connections between society and the marine environment.

Ultimately, our communication asserts that art plays a crucial role in raising environmental awareness and shaping human perceptions of marine life. It calls for interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists, artists, and researchers to explore the intersection of aesthetics, history, and ecology in fostering sustainable relationships with the ocean.

How to cite: Changeux, T., Tribot, A.-S., Merquiol, L., and Faget, D.: Aquatic Life in Art: From Historical Perspectives to Modern Conservation, One Ocean Science Congress 2025, Nice, France, 3–6 Jun 2025, OOS2025-61, https://doi.org/10.5194/oos2025-61, 2025.

The ocean plays a crucial role in addressing the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. It provides essential ecosystem services such as climate regulation, food security for billions, and supports human health, cultural values and wellbeing. The ocean is however facing a possible new threat: deep seabed mining (DSM), an emerging industrial activity that extracts mineral deposits from the deep seabed. Some actors are pushing for rapid development of this industry, with mining potentially starting soon, and likely in the absence of regulations, scientific evidence and social acceptance.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA), which regulates activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the “Area”), has only issued exploration contracts with regulations to govern the transition to exploitation under development. Meanwhile, scientific research increasingly shows that DSM could cause significant and irreparable harm to marine biodiversity and ecosystems, with limited knowledge or means available to mitigate such impacts. These effects could, in turn, disrupt essential ecosystem services, threatening human health, wellbeing, and cultural connections.

The multiple impacts of DSM on human rights stemming from the degradation of ecosystem services, including emerging jurisprudence, both internationally and domestically, engages on the following themes:

• The right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment;
• The right to benefit from scientific progress;
• The right to health, and food security;
• Indigenous rights, including the protection of cultural heritage.

Negative impacts to human rights are also possible via the way in which decisions are made, including issues related to:

• Access to information, participation in decisions, and justice for environmental matters;
• Protection of environmental human rights defenders;
• Children’s rights, such as participation in decisions affecting them and having their best interests considered;
• Business and human rights, and self-determination;
• The rights of future generations.

To date, these human rights concerns have been largely overlooked by the ISA and in its regulatory development. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Area and its resources are the common heritage of humankind. This means they should be managed for the benefit of all, including through the support of marine scientific research, sharing economic benefits, and ensuring environmental protection.

It is critical for ISA member states to incorporate human rights considerations in their decision making at the ISA. National businesses must also be compelled to respect human rights, with legal consequences if failing to do so. International negotiations at the ISA should be guided by a human rights-based approach, ensuring that decision-making is participatory and inclusive. Safeguards, such as the requirement for free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) from Indigenous Peoples and social legitimacy in the broader sense, must be part of this approach. The ISA must align itself with good practices to safeguard human rights, as seen in other contemporaneous multilateral agreements. Without such safeguards, DSM should not be allowed to commence.

A clean, healthy, and sustainable deep ocean is not only an environmental issue—it is a fundamental human right that must be defended for the benefit of current and future generations.

How to cite: Chazot, C., Singh, P., Flint, R., Lily, H., Niner, H., Battle, J., and Weiskel, H.: Deep seabed mining and how it affects human rights, One Ocean Science Congress 2025, Nice, France, 3–6 Jun 2025, OOS2025-1245, https://doi.org/10.5194/oos2025-1245, 2025.

As the world confronts an escalating ocean crisis, the deep sea—often referred to as the "last frontier" of our planet—remains largely remote, detached in human imaginaries and is being optimized for natural resources for a green energy transition at the UN regulatory authority, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) which has the mandate for deep seabed mining governance. 

As the cluster of rights and heritage preservation are far from being fully operationalised at the ISA, this paper makes a legal case for a rights-based framework for the deep sea which offers a transformative approach to ocean stewardship, recognizing not only the ecological significance of these ecosystems but also their intrinsic rights to protection and preservation. This framework challenges conventional, exploitative models of ocean governance, urging a shift towards more inclusive, ethical, and sustainable practices.

At the heart of this paradigm shift is the confluence of diverse knowledge systems. This paper examines from the lens of artistic praxis, indigenous wisdom, and scientific research of cultural significance as well as ethical practices that provide complementary insights that deepen our understanding of the deep sea and its interconnectedness within wider ocean health.  

As the legal rights-based framework for the deep sea is in its infancy, new formats of research investigation — these include artistic methods that blend reflexivity,  embodied encounters, and place-based insights which can help reveal the fragility of the ocean's depths and critically engage in hidden narratives, stirring emotional and cultural connections; and imbibing Indigenous knowledge of ancestral genealogies that offers invaluable perspectives on sustainability and respect for natural resources, while scientific inquiry contributes empirical data and innovative solutions for protection.

This paper focuses on the intersection between policy, knowledge and the role of art in bringing all voices to the decision-making table. The paper will discuss opportunities to establish and implement effective regulatory measures for the protection and conservation of the deep ocean from emerging threats caused by human activities, such as deep seabed mining, including exploring the topic through relations between human and non-human rights. As a case study, the paper will feature a recent initiative that brings together new perspectives through  the co-produced project ‘Rights of the Deep’ (2024) between the UK based artist Emma Critchley, legal experts, Pacific indigenous representatives and scientific advisors which emphasizes the role of art as a catalyst for dialogues on the topic of deep seabed mining and to influence institutional and policy reform at the ISA and beyond. It also expands on other emerging artistic contributions from the collective The Inhabitants, the Tongan artist Latai Tamoepeau and others.  

From the harmonious collaboration between legal experts, Indigenous representatives, and scientists through the lens of art, we can cultivate a transformative evolution in ocean stewardship—one that bridges the fragments of knowledge and nurtures a holistic, reverent connection to the deep sea. This approach emphasizes the need for cultural and ecological sensitivity in protecting our oceans and ensuring their resilience for heritage preservation for future generations.

How to cite: Dave, M., Critchley, E., and Singh, P.: The Case for Deep Sea Rights: A Path to Equitable and Sustainable Ocean Stewardship, One Ocean Science Congress 2025, Nice, France, 3–6 Jun 2025, OOS2025-1243, https://doi.org/10.5194/oos2025-1243, 2025.

Deep-sea exploration is recent and its cultural and biodiversity heritage remains largely unknown. Human activities increasingly developing at great depths threaten the richest of these sites, and massive destruction occurs sometimes even before they are discovered and inventoried. Investigating and establishing effective protection measures for deep-sea biodiversity and cultural heritage sites is a critical challenge, requiring urgent and collaborative exploration efforts.

Mutualistic approaches integrating deep-sea biodiversity and archeological investigations hold great potential to support this effort. Underwater archaeology and deep-sea ecology share similar requirements in terms of instrumentation for accessing sites, for observation and sampling at scales ranging from centimetres to tens-of-meters. Furthermore, the investigation of shipwrecks provides unique opportunities for advancing knowledge in terms of spatial and temporal dynamics of deep-sea communities and highlights the potential role of archaeological sites as habitats for protected species, of relevance to conservation strategies and to anthropogenic impact assessments at depth.

Certain priority areas for underwater archaeology exploration, such as historical maritime routes, represent hotspots of this cultural and ecological heritage. This is the case of the Corsica Channel, between the east coast of the island and Italy, where the seabed reaches depths of several hundred meters within a short distance from the coast of Corsica, marked by a narrow shelf and steep margin, in addition to be host a large number of shipwrecks from more than a 2000-year time period. The development of « lightweight » deep-sea robotic technologies has opened access to these depths to explorers and researchers. The Département des Recherches Archéologiques Subaquatiques et Sous-marines (Drassm) of the French Ministry of Culture pioneered this effort through its programme of research and innovation on the deep-sea shipwrecks off-shore Corsica, fostering tight collaboration between archaeologists and roboticists for the development of dedicated instrumentation.

This strategy and these tools are also highly valuable for deep-sea ecological research and biodiversity conservation programs. The development of collaborations between the Drassm and the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France), since 2021, has notably provided new information on the distribution of protected taxa, such as scleractinian and gorgonian corals, in this region of the western Mediterranean sea under particular stress from climate disturbance. The data acquired provide insights to the growth rate and favourable habitat conditions of these foundation species and, more broadly, on the diverse fauna hosted by deep-sea shipwrecks, expanding deep-sea ecological knowledge, in alignment with the objectives of protection and conservation in the area (Parc Naturel Marin du Cap Corse et de l’Agriate, Natura 2000 Habitats Directive). This program triggered joined-efforts for the characterisation of settlements on different archaeological sites, their structuring species and associated fauna, using deep-sea imagery. The presentation will illustrate the value of this collaborative effort and its contribution to of the investigation of poorly explored sites, cultural and biological hotspot of unique richness, through different examples, ranging from the Roman-era to World War II shipwrecks.

How to cite: Le Bris, N., Cibecchini, F., Dégez, D., and Creuze, V.: Archaeological heritage and biodiversity hotspots : mutualisation of technological innovation and investigation strategies to improve knowledge and protection in poorly explored deep-sea regions, One Ocean Science Congress 2025, Nice, France, 3–6 Jun 2025, OOS2025-720, https://doi.org/10.5194/oos2025-720, 2025.