Total Akpo Nigeria SERPENT report

The ecology of the deep waters off Nigeria is poorly understood but the area attracts increasing hydrocarbon exploration. Through collaboration with a variety of offshore oil and service companies SERPENT carried out novel deep-water science at the Akpo site offshore Nigeria. This visit to the Jack Ryan drilling rig was the first visit of its type in Nigerian waters and the most comprehensive visit undertaken by SERPENT in Africa. The aim of the visit was to make initial assessment of Nigerian deep-water biodiversity through collection of both images and physical samples of the benthic fauna. Seabed water temperature at 1366 m was 5.3⁰C. Video analysis revealed 36 taxa representing 5 phyla and 22 specimens were collected. As there is limited knowledge of the Nigerian deep-water fauna, a taxonomic phase will be important to reinforce detailed future ecological research and to provide a strong baseline against which to assess changes in the deep-water environment.