“From Nice… to the Abyss,” is the editorial by Vincent Réa for the new issue of the Sciences et Avenir dossiers. It has been available everywhere since Thursday, July 10, 2025.
Earth. A strange name for a planet covered 71% by water. It took humankind a long time to realize this. And just as long to take a closer look. For a long time, the ocean was merely a wild margin, a daunting horizon. A vastness with infinite resources, eternal and endlessly generous, about which we actually knew very little. A mare nullius over which we eventually arrogated the right to do pretty much anything. At best, we would be moved by an oil spill or the fate of baby seals.
But that can no longer be said. In just a few decades, science has deployed its instruments across this vast playground. Discovering, in the darkest depths of the abyss, life as abundant as it is unsuspected. Uncovering the physico-chemical mechanisms that make this body of water the great regulator of the climate. Continuously monitoring it with sensor-laden buoys, bathyscaphes equipped with cameras, and underwater stations placed on the ocean floor over 1,500 meters down…
The Great Blue is in Trouble
In a way, we are taking its pulse. France, in this field, boasts some of the world’s best specialists and one of the most advanced oceanographic fleets on the planet. A voice that is listened to. What does it say? In unison with scientists: the great blue is in trouble.
Last June in Nice, the international community gathered at its bedside. Ministers, heads of state, statements, press conferences. This third United Nations Ocean Conference was preceded — for the first time — by a congress gathering nearly 2,000 researchers. With the ambition of providing governments with robust data on which to base their decisions. At a time when the environment is dangerously disappearing from government agendas, when its defenders are portrayed as obstacles to production, and when, across the Atlantic, a President encourages deep-sea mining in disregard of international law, let us hope that this Azure summit will have real follow-up. And quickly! Let us bet on the determination of decision-makers so that terms like “sustainable use” or “blue growth,” new mantras, truly curb the race to appropriate the sea’s wealth — the last frontier of blind economic policies. The health of this common good is at stake, just as ours is.
Discover the Magic of the Abyss at the Grand Océan Event
Better understanding the ocean will surely help us protect it better. Still, let us appreciate the inaccessible. Let us dive into the abyss and admire the fantastic creatures that thrive there. Bioluminescent, elegant, or frightening, they are meticulously illustrated in these pages by naturalist illustrator Julie Terrazzoni. An emotional spectacle!
The magic of the abyss will continue from September 26 to 28 in Cherbourg, during the Grand Océan event, for which Sciences et Avenir is a partner for the fourth consecutive year. An event not to be missed. Until then, we wish you all a wonderful summer, whether by the sea or elsewhere.
