The aim of the ECOgaps cruise was to improve our knowledgebase of the region's biological, chemical, and physical properties for the management of the King Haakon VII Sea from the coast of the Dronning Maud Land as part of CCAMLR's WSMPA Domain 4 planning. The focus of this cruise was on Astrid Ridge and Maud Rise. Work was divided into 7 packages: 1) Bird and marine mammal observations 2) Fish community 3) Benthic mapping 4) Zooplankton 5) Primary Production 6) Oceanography 7) Ocean Carbon chemistry. This is merely the preliminary cruise report with general impressions and initial observations and results.