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The deep sea is about to yield more of its secrets. The alliance, launched this week, brings together more than 30 international organisations from the fields of science, technology and business to try to learn more about Earth’s final frontier.

“We know more about the surface of Mars and the moon than we do about our own seabed,” says principal scientist at the University of Oxford.

The alliance’s XL Catlin Deep Ocean Survey will kick off with dives in Bermuda this month, using both manned and autonomous submersibles.

Rogers says such increasingly sophisticated craft are giving us unprecedented access to the deep sea. “We see a great need to learn, and we now have the technology to do it.”

Nekton’s ultimate aim is to diagnose the health of waters below 200 metres, to better inform policy decisions on protecting these habitats.

Read more: “Better world: End the pillaging of the high seas” and “Deep sea special: The undiscovered oceans“

This article will appear in print under the headline “Deeper exploration”