The encounter, deep beneath the surface of Indonesia’s Maluku Islands, did not just produce striking images. It opened a rare window on one of the ocean’s most mysterious creatures: the coelacanth, a fish once written off as extinct for millions of years.

In October 2024, French divers Alexis Chappuis and Julien Leblond descended to around 145 metres off the Maluku archipelago, in eastern Indonesia. They were using advanced rebreather systems and specialised suits designed for long, deep technical dives.

For two years, Chappuis had been poring over charts and sonar data, mapping underwater cliffs and cold upwellings that might harbour coelacanths. The terrain he targeted was steep, fragmented rock riddled with ledges and crevices, a layout similar to known coelacanth habitats in other parts of the Indian Ocean.