Billionaire Ray Dalio’s philanthropic organization, OceanX, has launched a 24-day research mission in the Indian Ocean to advance marine conservation. The Singapore-led expedition, supported by a $4.6 million grant from Singapore’s National Research Foundation and additional funding from Dalio, will explore 17 000 square kilometres of underwater mountains between Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Scientists from Thailand, Indonesia, and Fiji are studying biodiversity in one of the least-explored ocean regions. The mission follows the ratification of a United Nations treaty to protect high seas ecosystems and comes amid rising interest in deep-sea mining for metals critical to clean energy. OceanX’s vessel, OceanXplorer, equipped with submersibles which can reach a depth of 6 000 metres, will collect and publicly share data to inform global ocean policy.