On the seven seas of the world offers an unprecedented look at the daily life and challenges of sailors, researchers, engineers and technicians who cross the seas to better understand and protect our oceans. This graphic novel is a vibrant tribute to their patience, endurance, audacity and wonder. The sea, as the preface of the President and CEO of Ifremer, François Houllier, « imposes humility » and reveals « the breath of the Earth, its deep memory, its still veiled share of the future ».
It is part of a key moment for the French Oceanographic Fleet, with the arrival of its new director, Pierre Lachard, succeeding Olivier Lefort. On the other hand, the Anita Conti shipyard, the first ship built since the Why not? more than 20 years ago, marks the beginning of the renewal of the French Oceanographic Fleet and its decarbonization.
Graphic Novel Collection
David Wahl, Catel & Bocquet, Emmanuel Lepage,
Damien Roudeau, Isabel Del Real, Anne Smith,
Olivier Bonhomme and Hippolyte.
21 x 27.5 – 120 pages – €25 – In bookstores: May 15, 2026.
Through seven stories, renowned authors and illustrators, in close collaboration with scientists, reveal the collective dimension of science at sea and the richness of its campaigns.
Pioneer and visionary by Catel & Bocquet: the duo, known for their « biographics » of inspiring women such as Olympe de Gouges, highlights the fascinating life of Anita Conti, pioneer of French oceanography.
The eye of the abyss by Damien Roudeau: Damien Roudeau embarked on board the Why not?, alongside Jozée Sarrazin and Marjolaine Matabos, both researchers in benthic ecology and deep seabed specialists at Ifremer. He tells the work of the teams, scientists and sailors, united to maintain the EMSO Azores observatory, a unique infrastructure located on the mid-Atlantic ridge off the Azores, to reveal the secrets of the depths.
The eye of the abyss by Damien Roudeau.
Always ready to sail by Isabel Del Real who embarks us on the daily life of station ships, the Antedon II and the Albert Lucas, based respectively in Marseille and Brest and which take the pulse of our coasts. Sandrine Ruitton, president of the Marseille local evaluation committee for the Antedon II, and Erwan Amice, design engineer at the CNRS and head of the Means at sea and scientific diving service of the European University Institute of the Sea – IUEM in Brest, accompanied her in her immersion.
Anne & Anita by Anne Smith and Franck Betermin: Anne Smith, official Navy painter, and photographer Franck Betermin tell the construction of the Anita Conti ship in Vigo. Guided by the teams that coordinate the site and in particular by Sébastien Morvan, naval engineer and project manager for the construction of the Anita Conti, they offer us a unique perspective, in pictures, on the birth of a ship.
Birth of a volcano by Hippolyte: this story illustrates the exceptional history of the MAYOBS 13 sea campaign that led to the discovery of the formation of an underwater volcano off Mayotte in May 2019 aboard the Marion Dufresne. Enlightened by Stephan Jorry, co-head of the mission, Hippolyte shares, through a deeply human story, the backstage of this campaign, mounted in record time to locate and understand seismic and volcanic activity.
Birth of a volcano by Hippolyte.
A day aboard the Nautile by Emmanuel Lepage: official Navy painter, Emmanuel Lepage shares his experience aboard the oceanographic ship L’Atalante, alongside two Ifremer scientists, Marie-Anne Cambon, a deep-sea microbiologist, and Ewen Raugel, head of the Mechanical Intervention and Development Engineering department. He describes the launch of the Nautile, the famous yellow submarine of the French Oceanographic Fleet, and its descent into the abyss.
Dreaming of the future by Olivier Bonhomme and David Wahl: Olivier Bonhomme’s illustrations are combined here with David Wahl’s texts to imagine the ships and explorations of tomorrow. Accompanied by the expertise of Maximilien Simon, deputy director of the French Oceanographic Fleet, the duo offers a captivating imaginary vision of the future of marine research.
The French Oceanographic Fleet is France’s largest environmental research infrastructure. Its sustainability is based on the women and men who serve it and on the commitment of the State, guarantor of its permanent projection on the seven seas of the world, from the abysses on the surface, from the coast to the offshore and from France to the overseas.
At a time when France’s autonomy in the acquisition of knowledge is essential, and in the face of the major challenges of understanding the major societal and environmental issues related to the ocean, this graphic novel is an invitation to discover the commitment of marine science, demanding and inventive, at the service of knowledge of the Ocean.
source : mer et marine
