(Coordination: Sophie Cravatte (IRD), Catherine Sabinot (IRD), Guillaume Mitta (IFREMER))
Marine heatwaves are prolonged episodes of extreme ocean temperatures that can have devastating effects on marine ecosystems, such as massive coral bleaching, coastal species mortality, and toxic algal blooms. The intensity and frequency of marine heatwaves are expected to increase in the future, posing a growing threat to island societies that heavily rely on marine resources.
MaHeWa is an interdisciplinary project funded for four years (2024–2028) by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as part of the Priority Research Program “Ocean and Climate: An Ocean of Solutions.”
This project brings together a consortium of climatologists, oceanographers, biologists, anthropologists, and economists from France and overseas institutes and universities. These teams collaborate to make significant advances in understanding the characteristics and impacts of marine heatwaves on socio-ecological systems in Pacific Overseas Territories.
MaHeWa will study:
Throughout the project, MaHeWa will facilitate close collaboration between scientists and the project’s partner territorial managers responsible for health and marine resources.
A molecular biology technician, she has also been serving as a VSC at Ifremer Tahiti since October 2024. She contributes to projects focused on the physiology, toxicology, and immunology of marine organisms. She performs molecular biology procedures (DNA/RNA extractions and gene detection) as well as biochemical analyses (enzymatic and immunological tests) to study how organisms respond to their environment, toxins, or pathogens.
She holds an engineering background in international agri-development and is currently serving as a VSC within the MaHeWa and CLIPSSA projects, where she provides support to anthropological research under the supervision of Catherine SABINOT.
As part of the MaHeWa project, an Argo float was deployed on 30 November 2025 from the research vessel Antea, during the KASEAOPE3 mission, south of New Caledonia. This deployment takes place in the midst of a marine heatwave, currently classified as moderate to strong, with temperature anomalies reaching up to +3°C at the surface.
