Engineer in the marine environment and doctor in marine biology, Ariel Fuchs, 54, dedicated his life to his passion for the underwater world. As the operational director of the Octopus Foundation, his tremendous expertise helps Julien Pfyffer, founder, to make the best decisions for the Foundation’s strategy. He is also in charge of the organization and follow up of the filed missions. Please meet one of the key figures of the Foundation.
You are a journalist, a photographer, a scientist and a scuba diver…. You seem like a very busy man. Why did you accept to join the Octopus Foundation?
My relationship with the Octopus Foundation started when I met Julien Pfyffer, its initiator. I instantly understood that we share an identical passion for the technology and media when they are used to help understand the underwater world. I was thrilled by his plan to financially support scientific research in the marine world that will ultimately lead to better knowledge accessible to the public.
His generous objective isn’t something you come across very often these days. Human values are also very important to me, especially when they all come together to work for the oceans and the underwater world. All these aspects I have found in the Octopus Foundation.
What are the main challenges the Foundation will be facing?
I wish it will reach its ambitious goals: Use patronages and private funds to finance several scientific mission every year and maintain its operations over a long period of time. And why not also accept sponsors when we share the same philosophy?
What project would you particularly want to see realized?
On a personal level, I wish to someday see the SeaOrbiter (a marine vessel built to drift along the ocean currents in order to study the environment) come to life, as I have worked on the project for almost ten years. It would indeed be the perfect work and communication platform for the Octopus Foundation. In the meantime, there are so many projects out there …