Limestone caves form a unique environment isolated from the outside world, and many relict species called "living fossils" have been reported from limestone caves on land, freshwater, and shallow ocean ecosystems. Deepsea limestone caves may also be valuable habitats for relict species, no research has been conducted on deep-sea ecosystems to date.
Our D-ARK project will develop equipment for cave research, explore the sea area around the Daito Islands, and clarify biodiversity including relict species in the caves.

Principal investigator of D-ARK
Yoshihiro FUJIWARA