The CONDOR project aims to establish a permanent underwater observational station at the Condor seamount (near Faial Island), close to ports and land-based research facilities. The station will be used for monitoring and experimental purposes following a multidisciplinary approach, benefiting from continuing co-operation between Portuguese and Norwegian scientists, and adopting modern technology. This project, which will design and operate the first seamount observatory of its kind in the world, will undoubtedly increase the knowledge of the oceanographic and biological patterns and processes associated with these topographic features. The project will facilitate the testing of observational technology, and the involvement of students and stakeholders. The CONDOR project will be highly relevant to fishing management and to the conservation of marine biodiversity since both are based on the knowledge of the ecosystem functioning. In the field phase several sampling strategies and technologies will be used. Diverse equipment will be deployed to obtain permanent or long-term oceanographic and biological data (e.g. oceanographic moorings, 2 Norwegian acoustic landers, electronic fish tag receivers, etc), and several periodical surveys will be implemented using different sampling gears to collect organisms for biological studies. Visual surveys to obtained images from the seafloor, of the megabenthic fauna and the different habitats, will be obtained by the DOP ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) or the ‘LULA’ submersible. An autonomous time-lapse image lander able to obtain accurate measurements of organisms will be built to obtain long term images at a small scale on a deep water coral reef enhancing local advanced research capabilities . The project will be innovative in certain methodological aspects, in scientific aspects and conservation. Management of seamount areas requires both physical and ecological models that are developed on the basis of good observations. In-situ observations in representative locations need to be made so that temporal variability on scales of hours to months is detected and measured. Time-series observatories can provide a complete suite of measurements and multi-parameters observations of relevant variables.