In 2013, the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (IOUSP) together with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and the Brazilian Geological Survey (CPRM) signed a science cooperation agreement to study the deep SW Atlantic Ocean. In the same year, the Japanese HOV Shinkai 6500 and its mother ship Yokosuka made its first mission in waters off the S-SE Brazilian continental margin in depths exceeding 4000 meters. The visited sites included the Rio Grande Rise, the São Paulo Ridge and the São Paulo Plato. The results collected during this expedition are being analyzed by Brazilian and Japanese scientists. So far, the results are fantastic with numerous discoveries, including new species and habitats. These encouraged scientists to create the Iatá-Piúna Research Consortium aiming to publish these data and further new investigations in the relatively unknown South Atlantic. The word Iatá-Piúna is derived from the language of an important Brazilian indigenous tribe called Tupi-Guarani meaning "Sailing in deep, dark waters".

Read more about this project at Project Iatá-Piúna.