More than 20 years ago, when Vreni Häussermann was a student studying sea anemones—predators named after the colourful flower they resemble—she made an incredible discovery. Diving in a fjord along the rugged coast of Chilean Patagonia, she found something that wasn’t supposed to be there: coral.

“Suddenly a sea of tentacles appeared in the darkness, but not from sea anemones,” the marine biologist recalls, still excited by the memory. “At this time cold-water corals had just started to be discovered and were usually found in deep waters, thus we could not believe our eyes.”

After sending samples to the Smithsonian Institution, her discovery was confirmed. “From then on we knew for sure that we were at the right place to do research.”

Chilean Patagonia is the largest fjord region in the world, with a rocky coastline that stretched out in a straight line would circle the globe more than twice. Home to glacier-topped mountains, temperate rainforests and countless rocky inlets, its bustling marine forests teem with life, from coral and invertebrates to whales and seabirds.

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“The region is one of the last wildernesses on Earth,” Häussermann says.

Häussermann has devoted herself to studying this undersea wilderness since the late 1990s, helping to identify its many undiscovered species, while fighting to protect it from a host of threats, from open-pen salmon farming to commercial fishing to climate change.

“It was my dream since I studied biology to be able to discover new species while exploring unpopulated areas, [and] Patagonia is a place where this is still possible,” she says.

Cataloging and recording her discoveries is bigger than personal ego or interest, she adds. “When species get names they become tangible, and they cannot be ignored so easily.”

For 20 years Häussermann’s research has focused on the Comau fjord, where she has discovered numerous invertebrate species, naming choice specimens of anemones after her husband and children – much to their delight.

She has also witnessed rapid population declines of once-common species. From the death of coral banks to a mass die-off of baleen whales in central Patagonia, she has seen first-hand how quickly and severely an ecosystem can be affected by human activity.

“It was like an apocalyptic scene when we discovered hundreds of whale carcasses lying along the beaches during a fly-over,” Häussermann says, pointing to a toxic “red tide” algae bloom as the likely culprit. Caused by a combination of unusual climate events and runoff from salmon farms, she expects these deadly algae blooms to become more severe and frequent in coming years.

In 2016, Häussermann’s contributions to science were recognized with a Rolex Award for Enterprise, which gave her worldwide attention and funding to take her studies even deeper. As part of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet initiative, the Awards for Enterprise are given to exceptional individuals who are making the world a better place through work that advances knowledge, improves lives and protects the environment.

“More than the financial support from Rolex, the media attention that was created through the award helped to draw the Patagonian marine life into the focus of a broader public,” Häussermann says. “That helps to make my data matter.”

In addition to shining a global spotlight on the plight of Chilean Patagonia, the award enabled Häussermann to use a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to study unexplored ecosystems as deep as 1,000 metres.

As with all of her work, the purpose of these dives is to collect data on little-understood ecosystems, which is a vital tool in making a case for conservation. She uses her data to lobby for the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Chilean Patagonia, which are off-limits to human development and carefully managed by the government.

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“We know more about the moon than we know about the marine life of Chilean Patagonia, thus one of the main obstacles for marine conservation is a lack of knowledge,” she explains. “Without marine protected areas, species losses are inevitable.”

Her work has resulted in the creation of 10 such MPAs, but most of them still allow salmon farming, and only two are highly protected. Häussermann’s ultimate goal, she says, is to keep exploring ever deeper in Chilean Patagonia’s fjords, collecting data to show the world how important and delicate these ecosystems are.

In an area this vast and little-understood, it’s a monumental task, and with the effects of climate change becoming ever more immediate, the clock is ticking. “As a scientist, it is painful to see how a fact as scientifically confirmed as man-made climate change – and with largely irreversible effects – is still ignored by so many people and politicians.

“My biggest challenge is, together with scientists all over the world, to make people aware of how high the stakes are for future generations. There is a lot lost already, but if we act now, there is a lot we can still save.”

Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Rolex. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.