Oceanographic campaign on board the CNR R/V Gaia Blu from the 28th March to the 11th of April (LEG1) and then from the 8th May to the 14th May 2024 (LEG2), in the following monitoring sites: Santa Maria di Leuca, Monopoli continental shelf, Bari Canyon, Dauno Seamount, and Dohrn Canyon. The cruise joint the objectives of three projects, all of them intended at exploring, monitoring and restoring deep-sea habitats, the LIFE DREAM (https://www.life-dream.eu/), Spoke 1 and Spoke 2 of the PNRR NBFC (https://www.nbfc.it/en) and the HE REDRESS (https://redress-project.eu/) projects. The habitat targeted by the cruise are the cold-water corals, the deep-water oysters reefs, and the deep black coral forest, with the aim to:

- restore the vulnerable marine habitats by removing the marine litter;

- restore the vulnerable marine habitats by installing artificial reefs on the seafloor that provide hard substrate suitable for recruiting juvenile individuals;

- monitor the vulnerable deep-sea habitats and the impacts of restoration actions by

means of permanent deep observation systems;

- increase knowledge and awareness on these deep-sea habitats, their ecosystem services and the importance of restoring, conserving and protecting them.