On July 16 2019, the Principal Secretary for Environment, Mr. Alain de Commarmond, handed over to the faculty samples of some corals that the ‘Nekton II- First Descent’ expedition collected, in March and April of this year. The samples have been added to BERI’s existing coral collection. The handing-over ceremony proper, in one of the labs, followed seven power-point presentations in Theatre II. While Mr. Alain de Commarmond overviewed the whole expedition, Jérôme Harlay gave a briefing on its oceanographic survey. Next, two young Seychellois researchers from the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), Clara Benoiton and Stephanie Marie, shared their personal experiences of the expedition. Following them, Christopher Mason-Parker from Global Vision International (GVI) talked about fifteen years of coral reef monitoring along the northwest coast of Mahé Island. Gilbert Gendron then outlined the contribution of the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA) to local coral reef conservation. Aurelie Duhec subsequently reviewed the coral reef restoration interventions of the Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles (MCSS). The final presentation was by researcher Jeanne Mortimer about local seagrasses and seaweeds.