The BRIDGES expedition begins to explore the ancient land bridge connecting Sicily and Malta

Between late 2025 and early 2026, a new oceanographic campaign will begin aboard the research vessel R/V Gaia Blu of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). The aim of the mission is to identify the remains of an ancient landmass that once acted as a bridge between south-eastern Sicily and the present-day islands of Malta and Gozo.

The project, named BRIDGES, stems from a collaboration between researchers from the Institute of Marine Sciences of the CNR (Cnr-Ismar), the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), and the University of Malta.