Research
Marine Research
Marine research on Curaçao has produced some exceptional results. Marine biologists and oceanographers from around the world have used our submersibles to explore the deep reefs around Curaçao, documenting and publishing their discoveries in major scientific journals. Such research activity has helped Curaçao gain a reputation as a destination for underwater scientific research endeavours.
If you have any questions about our research projects, or marine research in general, feel free to contact us.
Local Underwater Discoveries
Among new marine species previously discovered in the waters of Curaçao, a particularly interesting find was a vividly colored hermit crab that had previously only been observed as an old, preserved, colorless museum specimen. That is, until Dr. Rafael Lemaitre (right of picture) discovered a live specimen of the “Pylopagurus discoidalis” (Milne-Edwards, 1880) among the deep reefs of Curaçao. This hermit crab lives in tusk shells, into which it can retract, while protecting itself by sealing the shell’s opening with its flat claw. Incidentally, Dr. Lemaitre’s colleague, Dr. Dave Pawson (left of picture), had a small tropical western Atlantic sea-star named after him, the “Pawsonaster parvus” (Perrier, 1881), following his discovery of this species. This unusual sea creature grows to a diameter of about 5 cm and lives on the sea floor at varying depths between 30 to 600 m. Its appearance always features bright orange markings.
Underwater Research Expeditions
For scientific research dive missions, we offer a range of support vessels and submersibles that are suitable for deployment, including our 5-person “CuraSub” which can dive to 1000 ft (305 m) for approx. 7h straight. It is fully equipped for research purposes such as a collecting basket, suction and a mechanical arm.
With our C-Explorer 5 we have the capability to go to 600ft (200m) which can be perfect when researching the Mesophotic zone. Although we don’t have a permanent camera’s mounted on the submersible, we do have options to implement this. The CE5 is suitable for lesser depths and holds more space inside for extra research equipment. We can dive up to 7h straight.
