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Le Journal Tara Expeditions - Tara Oceans N° 6 - March 2010

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Free newspaper published by Tara Oceans. Photographs: Fonds Tara. Artistic direction and layout: www.be-poles.com Fonds Tara, 12 rue Dieu, 75010 Paris, France / +33 (0)1 42 01 38 57 / [email protected]. Legal representative and director of the publication: Etienne Bourgois. Editor in chief: Lisa Garnier. Editorial director: Eloïse Fontaine. Coordinator: Magali Puiseux.

Scientific coordinator: Eric Karsenti. Printer: www.printco.fr. Publication date: 10/03/10. ISSN 1953-6798

After the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, Tara is now heading for the coasts of Arabia, India and some isolated atolls.

The schooner Tara continues her exploration of coral reefs and the hidden world of plankton.

This photo has not been altered in any way. Plankton nets in the water under Tara, somewhere in the Red Sea between Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). © D.Sauveur/Fonds Tara

Le journal

Sails set for the Indian Ocean!

ALLMER - ARMATEURS DE FRANCE - AQUALUNG - FERRARI STAMOID - GEOVOILE - GMI - INTERNATIONAL PEINTURE - METEO STRATEGY - NV EQUIPEMENT - PLASTIMO - SELVA ELECTRONIQUE - TIMOLOR



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For over 6 years the Tara organization, lead by Etienne Bourgois and sponsored by agnès b., has been supporting environmental expeditions. In May 2009, Tara became a «fonds de dotation», a non-for-profit organization.

The aim of the Fonds Tara is to finance scientific research into the impact of global warming on ecosystems, to raise public awareness about environmental issues, and to disseminate scien-tific data for educational purposes.

The environmental work of the Fonds Tara is supported in its efforts by the Tara Club of sponsors. The Fonds Tara is thus au-thorized to receive donations and bequests to help finance Tara Oceans, an expedition to increase our understanding of the pla-net. Donate online at taraexpeditions.org.

The environmental work of the Fonds Tara is partly financed by the recently created Endowment fund agnès b.

Romain Troublé is the secretary general of the Fonds, Etienne Bourgois the chairman, Christian de Marliave and Philippe Clais are board members.

Fonds Tara offices are located 12, rue Dieu, 75010 Paris, France.A new independant structure has recently been created in

America. The Tara Foundation for Marine Research goals is to broaden Tara Oceans expedition’s research and outreach pro-grammes in USA.

Tara at the Cité des Sciences, ParisFrom 23rd March to October 2010, the Cité des Sciences will

be devoting a large area of its reception hall to the Tara Oceans expedition. The exhibition will talk about the vessel and what it is like to live aboard, provide expedition updates in real time and explain the scientific aims of the mission. Admission free, Paris Metro: Porte de la Villette. Open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed on Mondays.

Global Oceans ConferenceIn early May, Global Oceans Conference hosted by UNESCO

and the Government of France will discuss about climate, biodi-versity and governance in Paris.

The fonds Tara

events

News from the Arctic

by CHrisTian de marliaVe*

At the beginning of December 2009 we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty which removed all military activity from the South Pole, reserving it for Science and Peace. It is remarkable that the United States, the Soviet Union and the ten other signatory states managed to conclude an agreement like this in the middle of the Cold War, and keep it going for more than half a century.

In the Arctic, however, it is totally different. Not a trace of any international treaty on the horizon. The neighbouring states (the USA, Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark) are more apt to want their fair share of the cake, made more desirable by the rapid disap-pearance of the summer ice floes. Indeed, the last three summers have been the worst for sea ice extent in the short history of scien-tific observation. Also, the Barents Sea and Hudson Bay iced over exceptionally late last autumn, suggesting that summer 2010 will probably be no different from the preceding three.

While waiting for the still hypothetical signature of a conven-tion on the law of the sea, the United States and Canada are using a lot of money and energy to map with extreme precision the continental plate of the Beaufort Sea. On 18th December 2009 Vladimir Putin launched the first oil tanker (the 260-me-

tre Kirill Lavrov) able to advance through ice floes a metre thick. In addition, the Russian national Security Council recently announced that by 2020 the Arctic will be the country’s main resource base. Meanwhile Europe, under pressure from certain lobbies to ban all products derived from seals, has just suffered a backlash and has been refused the status of observer to the Arctic Council (an intergovernmental forum to address issues

encountered by the Arctic governments and the region’s indige-nous peoples).

So where does the science fit in to all this? Winter is a time of low activity in the Arctic with satellites and drifting buoys being our only source of information on the area; however the Russian drifting research station SP-37, set up in September 2009 and the only human presence in the High Arctic (15 people), is col-lecting data as it drifts slowly eastwards in the Beaufort Gyre. After the success of “Damocles”, a programme which exploited atmospheric physics, glaciology and oceanography to observe, understand and measure global warming in the Arctic – and in which Tara took part – the European Commission is now launching a new programme called the Ocean of Tomorrow. Part of the purpose of this programme is to quantify the impact climate change has on economic sectors in the Arctic... Which means a little less pure science and a little more politics!

* Tara Artic’s scientific coordinator

The Arctic is not, as yet, protected by any international treaty.

Tara drifted across the Arctic Sea from September 2006 to January 2008 as part of the European science project Damocles. © F.Latreille/Fonds Tara

NORTHPACIFICOCEAN

SOUTHPACIFICOCEAN

SOUTHATLANTICOCEAN

NORTHATLANTICOCEAN

INDIANOCEAN

LORIENT

LISBON

TANGIER ALGIERS BIZERTE

NAPLES

LAVALETTE

TRIPOLI

BARCELONANICE DUBROVNIK

ATHENSLIMASSOL

BEIRUT

PORT SAIDSHARM EL SHEIKH JEDDAH

DJIBOUTI

ABU DHABI MASCAT MUMBAI

GOA

MALÉ

ST DENISPORT LOUIS

SAINT BRANDON

ANTSERANANAMAYOTTE

EUROPA TOLIARA

CAPE TOWN

ST HELENERIO DE JANEIRO

SALVADOR DE BAHIA

BUENOS AIRES

PORT STANLEY

VALPARAISO

EASTER ISLAND

MARQUESAS ISLANDS

PAPEETE

AUCKLANDSYDNEY

NOUMEA

COCOS KEELING

DARWIN

MANILA

HONG-KONG

SHANGHAÏ

TAIPEI

TOKYO

VLADIVOSTOK

PETRO-PAVLOVSK

HAWAII

SEATTLE

ANCHORAGE

RESOLUTE BAY

ST PIERRE ET MIQUELONBOSTON

NEW-YORK

CARIBBEAN

BERMUDA ISLAND

JAKARTAGALAPAGOS ISLANDS

CLIPPERTON

GUAYAQUIL

PUERTO MONTT

PUERTO WILLIAMS USHUAÏA

MARCH

2012

SEPTEMBER

2011MARCH2011

SEPTEMBER

2010

SEPTEMBER

2012 MARCH2010

DEPARTURESEPTEMBER

2009

FIRST YEAR:Lorient (sept. 2009) - Cape Town

SECOND YEAR:Cape Town - Auckland

THIRD YEAR:Auckland - Europe

PORT OF CALL

Crossing of oceanic province

Understudied coral reefs

Upwellings

Life in ocean deserts

Overproduction of algae

Concentration of plastic waste

Ice melts

Life in acidic areas



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At the edge of the unknownWhen science and sailing combine for the benefit of knowledge.

by dino di méo*

Two years ago, Tara Arctic raised awareness about global warming and the incredible melting of the ice-cap caused for the most part by ecological damage.

The new Tara expedition is committed to furthering our knowledge of the planet. It aims to throw light on the behaviour of the microscopic world living in the waters that cover two thirds of our Earth’s surface. This innovative expedition set sail from Lorient (Brittany) on 5th September 2009 for a period of 3 years to study the oceans and the plankton they contain. This huge oceanic oxygen pump produces half of all the oxygen that we breathe. Marine ecosystems are also the most complex and least well known to Man, despite their considerable biodiversity.

Tara Oceans is the result of an enlightened meeting between

Etienne Bourgois, chairman of the Tara Foundation and owner of this marvellous boat, and Eric Karsenti, director of research at EMBL and the CNRS. The expedition promises to meet the urgent need for action to preserve the ecology

of the entire planet and will be headed by many well-known researchers. As they sail over thousands of nautical miles these experienced scientists will take it in turns to identify, analyse and count the billions of microscopic organisms that

make up our oceans. Oceanographers, biologists, geneticists and physicists from some of the world’s best laboratories and equipped with the latest technology will endeavour to share and disseminate all the information collected from Tara’s samples. This will form a freely accessible and multidimensional bio-oceanographic database which will perhaps provide the key to understanding the evolution of our planet’s climate and the life it harbours.

Like its predecessor four years ago (Tara Arctic), Tara Oceans is a pioneering expedition which requires careful coordination. Romain Troublé is directing logistical operations over the three years of the expedition and it is his job to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the international crew who will take it in turns to examine the waters of the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Indian, Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans, as well as many

other coral seas and reefs. Each crew consists of about fifteen people from twenty organizations and laboratories based in seven countries.

Tara will put in to about sixty ports in fifty countries, including Barcelona, Muscat, Bombay, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, Auckland and Hawaii. Throughout this new adventure Tara intends to remain in the public eye to raise awareness and educate the public about these important issues. Partners in this quest include agnès b. and other sponsors.

* Journalist for the French daily Libération

From the warm seas to the icy poles, Tara and her crew have three years to inventory the microscopic organisms

living in the world’s oceans.

More than 100 scientists will be taking part in the adventure with Tara.

Tara Oceans expedition will cross 150,000 km to study several oceanic zones. © be-poles for Fonds Tara

Tara was battered by her first heavy storm off Sardinia (Italy). © S.Bollet/Fonds Tara

THe expediTion in figures3-year expedition (September 2009 to November 2012) -- 150 000 kilometers around the world -- 12-hour sampling campaigns -- 12 scientific fields -- 161 measurements in every operation -- 2,500-metre-range for the oceanographic winch -- 100 participating scientists including 21 scientific coordinators -- 18 participating laboratories from 7 countries -- 15 persons aboard including sailors, scientists and journalists -- 50 partners, sponsors and suppliers -- 50 countries visited -- 68 port visits.



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Julien Daniel, a 28 year-old from Brest and a petty officer in the merchant navy, is currently aboard Père Jaouen’s Rara Avis. It was his status as an officer cadet and his Telecom network licence that enabled him to embark aboard Tara in 2009. “I sent an unsolicited application by e-mail. Tara was

Sir Peter Blake’s boat, and I had known her for a long time. I embarked in September 2009 for Tara Oceans. I was only frightened once: it was the night of a Friday 13th. We were in the engine room, and there were a few sparks on one of the engines. In fact I was only afraid afterwards, and the problem turned out to be of no consequence. On the other hand, my five months on board were pleasure all the way. Everybody was marvellous. I left the boat in Greece, and I will rejoin her in Bombay, next stop South Africa. I have taught sailing for ten years, and this boat has given me some ideas. I have a ten-month project waiting for me in Norway after Tara.” DD

by lisa garnier*

In September 2008 the Tara Oceans Expedition decided on a September 2009 departure and in that short space of time the researchers had to finalize the equipment, together with the protocols and the organization of the experiments on board the schooner.

Tara has become an authentic oceanographic vessel since the stop-over in Athens. All the material and technology required for the measurements and sampling of sea water are now on board. The CTD-rosette was loaded at Nice, and the SPIM (Single plane illumination microscope), which provides 3-D imaging, is now in place in the schooner’s air-conditioned dry laboratory. The SPIM and all the other prototypes are operational (TSG, AC-s and FRRF - see p9 for a description). The biggest challenge so far has been getting the SeaFlow to be stably operational for measuring surface

phytoplankton populations continuously 24 hours a day. The instrument is a prototype flow cytometer adapted for oceanographic research and built for Tara Oceans with funds from the

CNRS. The problems are now being solved with a remote internet connection between Tara and the instrument’s designer, Jarred Swalwell, at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Tara has now received an extractor hood to ventilate the wet laboratory on the aft deck, where sea water is filtered and samples are fixed. It was also here on deck that the scientists realized that the cleaning protocols for the pumps could not be based on hydrochloric acid, which is corrosive

for an aluminium boat.The -80°C freezer had to be abandoned in

Nice. Too energy-consuming and bulky for Tara, it was replaced by a -20°C freezer.

“We also realized that we needed somebody to take charge of the biology laboratory”, explained Eric Karsenti, co-director of the Tara Oceans expedition. “So somebody is going to be recruited to look after the tracing of samples, equipment, the data base and monitoring the protocols. Moreover, a Panasonic Toughbook watertight computer has been installed in the wet laboratory. The system operates like those in supermarkets.

Each sample is associated with a bar code. This number corresponds to all the parameters connected with the sample (depth, salinity, GPS, etc.). Previously everything had to be done manually, which was tedious.”

Finally, concerning the extraction of DNA and RNA from protists in the Genoscope laboratory in France, completion of the protocols prior to Tara’s departure highlighted problems of irregularities in the meshes of the filters used on board. The filtration protocol had to be changed en route, which automatically modified the protocol for laboratory extractions. “We are still working on it”, explained Olivier Jaillon, a research worker at the Genoscope. “But today we succeed in extracting the DNA and RNA from the marine environment, and of course we have checked that they are primarily from protists”.

* Science journalist.

“There are some moments which just seem to stick in the mind; fond memories you can look back on when times get hard. I remember a particular time when Tara came to anchor in a small cove in Greece, to the west of Athens.

As I came up from the hold, where I had been clas-sifying some samples, I suddenly realized that the boat had stopped in a cove and that, wonder of wonders, we had been given permission to go for a swim! Those few lengths that I swam around the

Tara in the warm water, the object of our scientific research, allowed me to become part of an idyllic landscape for an instant.

And that, of all the events that happened du-ring the expedition, is the fondest snapshot that I brought home with me to Roscoff in Brittany!” CHrisTopHe bouTTe, sCienTisT on board Tara

“Algiers: the veiled and good-humoured students of the Institute of Oceanography taking photos of their friends on Tara’s deck.Tunis: the endless negotiations for the of-ficial permits and the questions of the ma-rina director in pre-electoral Tunisia.”CHrisTian sardeT, Tara oCeans sCienTifiC Coordi-

naTor

“My favourite memory? Our arrival in Naples, where I worked for many years, and finding a room full of children of all ages who were all very excited with the prospect of presenting the captain Hervé Bourmaud with a model of the Tara which they had built in class over many weeks.” CHris bowler, Tara oCeans sCienTifiC CoordinaTor

“My first memory has to be of the Tara in Barce-lona, moored at the heart of the city next to Las Ramblas. Huge numbers of tourists milled around the quay where we were moored. They had come to see us and an episode of the French TV programme Thalassa being filmed. My second memory is the Tara in Beirut, moored in a distant corner of the commercial dock. She seemed to be so small behind the metal fencing guarded by soldiers in camouflage gear. But they gave us a warm welcome. Beirut, where I joined the crew and where we held a birthday party for Olivier Marien, Tara’s other captain when Hervé Bourmaud is on leave.I’ll watch the remainder of the port visits on my computer...” eTienne bourgois, direCTor of Tara oCeans

The running-in period is over

Memories from stopovers

Tara has become an authentic oceanographic vessel since the stop-over in Athens.

Tara going through the Suez Canal, Egypt. © D.Sauveur/Fonds TaraMidway along the Corinth Canal, Greece. © S.Bollet/Fonds Tara

Stress on the mechanicClose-up on Julien Daniel.

FROM LORIENT TO DJIBOUTI

Julien Daniel high up in the mast. © S.Bollet/Fonds Tara



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“Tara is bringing a fresh dynamic”

by lisa garnier

Eric Karsenti, unit manager at the EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) and co-director of Tara Oceans, along with Etienne Bourgois, managing director of agnès b., co-director of Tara Oceans and chair of the Fonds Tara, review the first six months of the expedition.

Before Tara set sail from Lorient, you said you were “feeling your way” in terms of the human, technical and scientific aspects. I trust things have moved on since then?

EB : Yes; some of the equipment we had to take on board had not been tested for want of time. Tara left even without the CTD-rosette. But now everything is as it should be. As far as the rest of the equipment is concerned, everything had been anticipated and planned for, so we’ve only made minor changes to the original plans. As to the human aspect, we wanted Tara Oceans to be much more than a “traditional” scientific expedi-tion. There had to be a human dimension, bringing it close to people through the Internet; we had to make it possible for peo-ple to share the experience with us on a daily basis. On board, we were rather worried about potentially having three comple-tely separate teams - with the crew, scientists and journalists all looking after their own interests. But in fact things have really turned out the other way round. Everybody is highly motivated and interested in the project.

EK : It was with respect to organization that we felt we were feeling our way. Normally before setting sail we have a big work meeting, a kind of workshop, on board with the teams. In this instance, we ran out of time and we left without definitive proto-cols. Those on board were learning how to get organized all the way to Nice (France). Between Nice and Naples (Italy), every-thing fell into place. And after Naples things were almost per-fect. Finally we were able to organize our workshop at Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt), last January. The chief scientists who will be on board Tara until next July were also present.

EB : On leaving Nice, Tara ran into some very bad weather. For almost three weeks, fewer scientific measurements were ta-ken but that enabled us to solve a lot of on-board organizational problems - for example, stowage space and so on. To begin with, I thought that the stints on board by scientists were too short. But then I realized that it was a way of ‘testing’ them (for sea sickness, for instance!) and of motivating the labs and their teams. In this way each team was able to get a feel for the ship, the work and sampling opportunities aboard.

How were things set up?EK : The topics of the scientific project are very complemen-

tary. There are people working on bacteria and viruses; others are studying protists, and others again are interested in larger organisms. In addition, there are scientists collecting physical and chemical data. All these people work in different labora-tories and before the “Tara Oceans” project none of them had ever worked together. Everybody arrived on board with a precise protocol. As the places on board are so highly sought-after, the people spending a week on the ship were never specialists in fields of research other than their own. For the first few weeks, the organization of sampling changed depending on which research scientists were on board. That was the kind of thing which needed harmonizing. The researchers had to learn to fit in with the protocols.

So all those hassles are behind you now?EB : On any expedition (Tara is now on her eighth since

2003), there are always various problems to be ironed out but that is what makes these missions so interesting! In the case of Tara Oceans, one aspect is the need to ensure the cold chain for the samples is not broken between the ship and Heidelberg, Germany. On that note I’d just like to acknowledge the outstan-ding efficiency of our partner, World Courier. You also have to ensure safety in ports and during manoeuvres. There’s also the question of dealing with customs issues to do with things like sampling authorizations and getting visas for all those on board. Basically, there’s a huge amount of to-ing and fro-ing going on all the time between the office, Tara, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local embassies, scientists and so on.

Of course, sailing in international waters in the Indian Ocean does not involve the same considerations as in the Mediterra-nean. Tara was only taking water samples and yet different coun-tries have property rights over these samples. It’s very complica-ted to handle applications for permission to take samples purely according to the scientists’ preferences. Rather than customs and

borders, what the scientists see is a new marine area which is particularly worth studying because of the weather conditions; however the trouble is we don’t necessarily have permission to take samples in those precise locations! It’s especially difficult to manage because the requirements are more or less demanding according to the countries in question, and they take this sort of thing very seriously indeed.

Do you have any regrets?EB : We had to give up the idea of stopping at the Chagos Ar-

chipelago in the Indian Ocean. Even after lengthy discussions, we weren’t able to secure the necessary permissions.

EK : But we will be going to another little-known reef, the Saint Brandon Rocks, off the coast of Mauritius.

How can the public help you?EB : The status of the Tara programme has changed. Since it

has become a foundation, anybody can donate to the expedition. Our major problem is finding funding. The project is atypical. The environment is the topic of the day and everybody wants to invest there, but we are involved in a different way to most.

What are your strengths? EB : Our key strength is bringing together scientific teams

which are among the best in their respective fields. This is what differentiates our project: with its blend of ages and nationa-lities, Tara Oceans represents human diversity and interaction. Right from the outset everybody has really given of their best to bring this outstanding adventure into being. We are setting out to discover micro-organisms. The subject is new and complex but we are aware of enormous expectations on the part of the general public in terms of finding out more about these micro-organisms and the role they play.

EK : It’s contemporary science without borders. We’re brin-ging a fresh dynamic to the quest to find out about all kinds of life on Earth.

The logistics behind this kind of expedition are very demanding and we also have to maintain a constant

dialogue between the crew, the research teams and the people

who look after us during port visits.

From now on anyone interested in the expedition can make

a donation to the Foundation.

agnès b.agnès b. has sponsored Tara from the beginning through her

eponymous Fonds de dotation. It’s her comittment for the planet.

In December 2009 agnès b. joined Tara in Port Said (Egypt) to encourage the crew. © D.Sauveur/ Fonds Tara

FROM LORIENT TO DJIBOUTI

Eric Karsenti in Tara’s wet laboratory. © S.Bollet/Fonds Tara Etienne Bourgois in Tara’s wheelhouse. © F.Latreille/Fonds Tara



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by dino di méo

“One thing is sure, if we are to understand the impact the global warming has on marine ecosystems, we will have to wait until all the data has been collected by the expedition at the end of its three-year mission to sample the world’s seas.” This is the opinion of Chris Bowler, director of the plant biology laboratory at the École normale supérieure in Paris and one of the five main coordinators of Tara Oceans.

This is the first time an expedition has carried out such detailed biological sampling. “What’s interesting about Tara is that she is equipped with high-tech instruments usually used in biomedical research. For example, she is carrying a flow cytometer (called SeaFlow) and a new generation of microscopes (SPIM) which are specially adapted to oceanographic research,” explains Chris. “The SeaFlow cytometer works along the same principles as the cytometers used in medical laboratories. It sorts the cells according to their size, colour and shape; but it does this around the clock and for the entire expedition.” At the same time samples are taken every other day, some at the surface but mostly at DCM (Deep Chlorophyll Max) where most of the phytoplankton are. “The DCM varies with each zone,” continues Chris. “We study the fluorescence of the chlorophyll to find out how deep the DCM is, and then we fish with different sized meshes to separate the organisms according to their size. The organisms range in size from over two millim to less than one micron, the biggest being the zooplankton, followed by the protists, the bacteria and finally the viruses.”

This operation, a world first, collects between 10 and 100 billion organisms concentrated in a few litres of water which we can then sort out on membranes. The study also takes into account the physical properties of the water column, such as its nitrate, carbonate and oxygen content. We can take samples to a depth of 2,000 m, especially interesting in the “gyres” (the one just south of Cyprus is an example – Ed). A gyre is a relatively isolated in a water mass which contains, all the way up its column, very different organisms from those found in the surrounding waters. “We know how to

observe them, he says, but we understand very little about them.”

The researcher in Chris would have preferred the expedition to have left a little later because the shipboard scientific programme was not fully operational for the Mediterranean stage of the voyage. He also regrets the inability to collect information over a longer period. “We don’t stay long enough in one place, he says, that’s why we need to compare what we do with the extended observations made by other oceanographers at long term monitoring stations, particularly in Hawaii and Bermuda.

But I am confident of the worth of our project, even if I know it’s not perfect. This idea of taking samples over three years is an innovation. Usually an expedition lasts just a few weeks because it’s too expensive to hire a scientific boat. Perhaps we should go back and look over certain points again at the end of the expedition? That would be worth it. But the main aim of the expedition is to share all our data with those from others scientists on other expeditions.”

According to Chris Bowler such a complete sampling of organisms has never been done before. “For a simple reason,” he explains. “Oceanographers are not biologists. They have

a lot of expertise in physics and chemistry but for them biology is often limited to chlorophyll concentration: they don’t take into account all the different organisms nor what each of them do.” The data should enable us to understand why, in different places around the world, we find a given organism in one place and not in another. This means we need lots of others information like water circulation, changes in the concentration of oxygen and the variability of the acidity (pH) in each zone. “Basically, we want to know what consequences all this will have for life on Earth.”

This study should also provide an answer to a big question: what is mankind’s impact on marine ecosystems? Transport plays a very important part since the organisms can easily be carried from one place to another and stay there. Particularly with the opening of canals, such as the Panama and the Suez which have already altered the distribution of certain species. Pollution and garbage also have major effect on organism distributions. “What impact does man really have on what ocean life does to maintain the well-being of our planet?” Chris wonders. “We’ll certainly know more after this.”

by daVid sauVeur*

The son of a Brazilian officer with a great love of the sea (and a musician like his father) Fabrizio has been sailing since the age of six when he set his first sails at the yacht club on Ilha Bela, Brazil. As a teenager he had the opportunity to race on all kinds of boats before subsequently obtaining his skipper’s certificate. Fabrizio the navigator has already sailed all the world’s seas on different yachts, even to the ends of the Earth, reaching 69°S in Antarctica aboard Mike Horn’s Pangaea.

His job on board is to keep a watchful eye on all the deck gear. Sails, winches, rigging, tenders, indeed everything that is used for sailing, and also the diving equipment. He supervises the deck manoeuvres, both under sail and in ports when approaching a quay. He is also responsible for safety during operations, and helping the scientists to handle their equipment.

Have you ever been scared aboard Tara?When you come aboard a boat like this, you know what to

expect, so you anticipate what can happen. We’ve weathered one or two storms, but it was OK. It’s exciting to sail aboard Tara because she’s a boat ready for anything, capable of sailing round the world. Nevertheless, the other evening I was a bit nervous: there can be pirates off Yemen, and there were a few vessels around us in the fog… Discretion is the better part of valour!

What are the biggest challenges aboard Tara?Ensuring that everything goes well when we are manoeuvring

under sail, and in port. The crew is made up of all kinds of people – sailors and scientists – and they have different perceptions. You have to ensure that everything goes smoothly and the manoeuvres are carried out correctly.

How did you come to be aboard Tara?I knew the boat since the days of Sir Peter Blake, and I used

to dream about her. I’ve had her on my mind since I first saw her! A while ago I was working on Mike Horn’s Pangaea, which was next to Tara in the shipyard in Lorient, so I made contact with the crew and here I am on board. * Correspondent on Tara from November 2009 to January 2010.

Oceanography “made in Tara”

“The data should enable us to understand why, all over the world, we find a given organism

in one place and not in another.”

“All hands on deck ” Close-up of Fabrizio Limena, deck officer from October 2009 to January 2010.

1. The aft deck of Tara at the start of a scientific station during which the schooner will carry out sampling «in stationary mode» over an area of interest selected using satellite data.

2. The scientists dispatch the rosette to carry out physico-chemical measurements. This initial dive records the characteristics of the water column.

3. At the same time the peristaltic pump is rigged on the starboard deck to sample up to 50 litres of sea water per minute without damaging the organisms.

4. From the aft deck, nets with different meshes are immersed to various depths down to 500 m. Their function is to collect plankton.

5. The water collected by the pump is taken to the wet laboratory. Part of it is then filtered through various devices that retain the plankton on their membranes.

At work. © D.Sauveur/Fonds Tara

This strong 27 year old is Fabrizio, our deck officer.

© D.Sauveur/Fonds Tara

SCIENCE AT SEA

12 Hours of sampling © D.Sauveur/S.Bollet/Fonds Tara

1

2A

4

2B

2C 2D

3A3B

DATA & SAMPLES

NON-STOP MEASURINGSAMPLE

DATABASE

1. LOCATE 2. SAMPLE 3. ANALYSE ABOARD 4. SEND DATA

STEPS

www.taraexpeditions.orgwww.taraexpeditions.org


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THE SATELLITESBefore Tara arrives, satellites supply information about ocean currents and make it easier to select the position at which samples will be taken. However, while satellites can only «see» down to 5 m below the surface, Tara can collect more detailed information once on site.

PLANKTON NETSTara collects plankton of different sizes in her nets: < 680, < 300, < 200, < 180, < 50 and < 20 microns (a micron is equal to a millionth of a metre).

THE ROSETTEThe rosette collects samples of water at different depths by the programmed opening of its bottles. Its winch allows it to be immersed to a depth of 2,000 m! Its sensors measure the characteristics of the water such as pressure, temperature, salinity, density, turbidity (the presence of suspended organic solids in the water), fluorescence, chlorophyll, nitrogen, oxygen and nitrate levels, and light-transmitting potential. The Underwater Vision Profiler fitted on the rosette enables zooplankton and marine snow to be studied.

CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENTSBeneath the hull, sensors and a pump take continuous measurements of salinity, temperature, fluorescence, phytoplankton content and photosynthesis efficiency.

OTHER MEASUREMENTSOther devices can be used at certain points during the expedition. For example the gliders, which are submarine robots, were used to study a gyre off the coast of Cyprus. Another device is used to measure the ocular properties of seawater.

WET LABORATORYSamples are deep-frozen at different temperatures in the wet laboratory then analysed on board Tara, or stored until they are unloaded.

DRY LABORATORYThe dry laboratory is situated below deck and allows the scientists to study part of the samples on board. Microscopes and a macro-video studio enable the plankton organisms to be visualized. The Flow Cam unit enables them to be photographed. The AC-S measures the properties of particles present in the water. A macro studio also allows corals to be studied.

ASHOREThe samples and data are off-loaded and shipped to Heidelberg in Germany (near Frankfurt). That is where the expedition’s database is housed.

The samples and data collected aboard Tara are then dispatched to different laboratories in France (Villefranche, Roscoff, and the Genoscope in Evry), Spain (Barcelona), Germany (the EMBL) or the USA (Hawaii) according to the scientific specialities to be studied.

HOW THE DATA AND SAMPLES TRAvEL

6. The rest of the water is filtered through a system of superimposed nets with different meshes before being filtered again in the wet laboratory.

7. On the aft deck the rosette is hoisted up. The programmed opening of its bottles ensures that water samples are taken at different depths, down to 2,000 m.

8. Like the water pumped on the surface, the water collected at depth by the rosette will be filtered, chemically fixed and sampled according to the particular types of organism being studied.

9. Liquid nitrogen has to be used to fix some samples. Once the various types of samples have been made up they are stored in refrigerators situated in the forward hold.

10. In the dry laboratory some of the instruments collect data continuously while others are used to measure and visualize specimens drawn from the marine biomass, of which we know very little.

© be-poles for the Fonds Tara

SCIENCE AT SEA

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The first CTD rosette testsReport from on board Tara in Nice at this crucial moment of the expedition.

by lisa garnier

Hidden beneath this technical name lies a whole host of sophisticated equipment suitable for taking samples and measuring a large number of physical and chemical parameters of sea water. Here’s the story of a successful deployment.

The weather is fine, the sea calm and there is no wind. The noonday cannon echoes across the port of Nice as the schooner Tara leaves her berth, heading towards the harbour at Villefranche-sur-Mer. Everything is in place for the first tests of the CTD rosette – the key item of equipment on the Tara Oceans mission, co-funded by the Veo-lia Environnement Foundation and the Brittany Regional Council. It is over one metre high and firmly positioned on the rails which allow it to be moved to the stern of the boat, from where it will be systematically lowered into the water. “It took four and a half months’ work to develop this special rosette for Tara,” explains Marc Picheral, an engi-neer specializing in CTDs at the CNRS labora-tory in Villefranche-sur-Mer who is busy making the final electronic connections with help from Sarah Searson, an oceanographer. CTDs make it possible for us to perform a number of continuous measurements of sea water. These are conductivity (from which salinity can subsequently be dedu-

ced), temperature and the pressure to which the instrument is subject. The pressure measurement enables us to determine the exact depth of the de-vice. CTD is an abbreviation made up of the first letters of the words Conductivity, Temperature and Depth.

The researchers have also added other sen-sors to the Tara rosette and these include a sen-sor to measure the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water; a fluorescence sensor which esti-mates the quantity of photosynthetic pigments; and above all, the Underwater Vision Profiler, developed at the Villefranche Oceanography laboratory by a team headed up by Gabriel Gorsky, the oceanographic operations manager. The name ‘rosette’ comes from its characteristic round shape, which is due to the collection of Niskin sampling bottles clustered around the apparatus. Seen from above or below, it recalls a Gothic cathedral’s stained glass window - a rose window or rosette.

In Villefranche-sur-Mer harbour, Captain

Hervé Bourmaud positions the boat in water 20 m deep. For this first test, it is important to be ready for any winching problems. The water is blue, just as one imagines it to be in the Me-diterranean. “If there is the slightest technical problem, the laboratories are just over there,”

explains Gabriel Gorsky. Once the engineers and crew have put on their mandatory life jac-kets at the stern of the boat, Rosie – as the ro-sette is nicknamed – is slowly pushed onto the launch platform and attached to the winch with a non-twist stainless steel cable which lifts it and holds it above the water. It’s all systems go. The rosette is dipped into its first bath. “Gently now”, calls Marc as €300,000 worth of equip-ment is being plunged into the water... Just 10 m down, Rosie is due to gather and record her first data - but are the sensors working?

After 10 minutes in place, the rosette is slowly

winched back up. Marc and Sarah are both hol-ding boat-hooks (a wooden or aluminium pole with a hook bending inwards on the end) which they use to bring the instrument platform (which weighs in at 250 kg) back on board. They quickly plug in the waterproof conductor cable which connects the computer in the elec-tronics workshop to Rosie and her data. Every-thing appears to be working properly.

The ship moves out of the harbour to carry out another test at a depth of 438 m. This time, the rosette will plunge to a depth of 200 m at a speed of one metre per second. With a frequency of 24 readings per second going down, the scientists are expecting one item of data for every 5 cm! When

the rosette is in full use, at a depth of 2,000 m, the researchers will have access to all sorts of data, enabling the whole column of water above it to be described. All the scientific dis-ciplines relating to the sea will have their set of samples: chemistry, physics, geochemistry and biology. “This CTD-rosette represents 20 years of work,” explains Gabriel Gorsky. At the same time, this ‘all-in-one’ device has also benefited from technological progress. “The Underwater Vision Profiler we have been working on at Villefranche-sur-Mer has gone from 300 kg to 30 kg in weight,” adds the research scientist, “and with the latest developments in microelec-tronics, we hope to get this down to 1 kg. This miniaturization brings down the cost of the apparatus. Submarine technology is far more difficult than space technology,” he concludes.

By 5pm, it was time to return to the harbour.

Rosie’s diving session at 200 m was a complete success. Since then, her handlers have learned her ways and taken her to depths of over 1,000 m, gathering a host of submarine data.

by saCHa bolleT*

Sarah is upholding the tradition of having New Zealanders on board Tara. But if truth be told, this seasoned traveller was born in England. “I left when I was 22, not long after leaving college, and I lived in many different places before arriving in New Zealand.”

With her short hair, smiling face and flowing tattoos on her arms, Sarah puts a humorous slant on the story of her continent-spanning life. On her first trip, she travelled across Africa hippy-style, in a Dormobile.

Next, she explored Australia by motorbike. “I sometimes

miss camping in the wild. I miss the smells and the noises. In Australia, you feel so small because you can go for three days without meeting anyone.”

In 1997, Sarah settled in the United States to work as an

oceanographer technician. Her job was to help scientists col-lect and process data on board a ship. “I loved my work there. From a professional point of view, the United States invest a lot of money in research. Science gets a lot of encourage-ment.”

On the strength of all her contacts on board oceanogra-

phic vessels, she set up her own business, offering her services

to various missions and ships – and travelling across South America. “I’ve crossed every country in Latin America except for Surinam and Guyana.” Having seen all there was to see in that part of the world, Sarah set off once again for the South Pacific, settling in Wellington, New Zealand. “I heard about Tara from a job offer on the Internet. I thought it would be a problem living so far away...”

Sarah’s ‘me time’: “I need to go for a run during stopovers.

On large oceanographic ships there’s gym equipment and I train every day.”

And life on board with Sarah? “I’m sure it can’t be a very

healthy state of affairs, but I think that it’s impossible to keep a secret on board any ship. Once something has been said out loud, everybody soon knows about it. So I try never to say anything negative.”

* Correspondent on Tara from September to November 2009.

Profile of Sarah Searson - Oceanographer

Sarah Searson. © D. Sauveur/Fonds Tara

The Rosette-CTD is a seawater sampling device which takes its name from its shape (rosette) and the abbreviation for Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD). © J.Girardot/Fonds Tara

Tara seen from the masthead. © S.Bollet/Fonds Tara

perfect!Gabriel Gorsky, in charge of operational oceanography for Tara Oceans, gives the latest news on the CTD.

“All the rosette sensors are working very well. We had a few problems with the nitrate sensor but all that’s been sorted out now. We can now measure the quantity of nitrates dis-solved in seawater every 20cm up to a depth of 1,000m. With regard to the other CTD measurements (temperatures, salinity, etc.) and bio-optical sensors, we can take measure-ments every 5cm or every 20cm up to a depth of 2,000m. The data is perfect. We’ve calibra-ted it and it’s ready to be used as required. The information will be made accessible on a server. As to data regarding water oxygena-tion levels, we had been expecting to identify an area with low oxygenation in the Red Sea but we were still very surprised by the sudden drop in oxygen levels – in the space of just 20m! This is an interesting observation for future reference. In the Indian Ocean we are going to visit anoxic zones. It may be that we will find species there which have adapted to these living conditions.” LG

Sarah is upholding the tradition of having New Zealanders on board Tara.

www.taraexpeditions.orgSCIENCE AT SEA


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A female amphipod (Phronima) inhabiting a salp in which she has laid her eggs. © M.Ormestad/Kahikai/Tara Oceans

Tara under sail off Djibouti in February 2010. © J.Girardot/Fonds Tara

by lisa garnier

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centu-ries, early naturalists began to explore the living world and describe in detail what they saw. Nowadays, modern technology allows us to go far beyond the limits of human vision.

“I will know because I will have been there, to discover, to see, to study and to understand. Whatever the risk, I will know...”, declared French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville in the 1760s. Two and a half centuries later, in an era when oceanographic survey ships are fit-ted out with not just one but several laboratories, the schooner Tara is following those pionee-ring sailing explorers. In the nineteenth century the Beagle, the three-masted boat of Charles Darwin fame, measured twenty-seven meters long and carried sixty-four people aboard; its thirty-six-meter modern counterpart, the schoo-

ner Tara, carries just fourteen people... plus tech-nical equipment for oceanographic research!

“In fact devices on board Tara wouldn’t nor-mally work on a sailing boat,” explains Emma-nuel Reynaud, head of imaging techniques and researcher in molecular and cellular biology at University College Dublin, Ireland. The first reason for this is the lack of available energy because of the winch.

A sail boat normally doesn’t possess such equip-ment! “As soon as you activate the winch at the stern, half of the imaging gear can’t work.” So ? The solution resides in innovation and miniaturization in order to reduce energy needs on board. Take the SPIM, the Single Plane Illumination Macros-cope operated by Emmanuel Reynaud and Ernst H.K. Stelzer from the European Molecular Bio-logy Laboratory (EMBL) in Germany. “This mi-croscope, which is still at the prototype stage, will be very useful for taxonomy because it produces

3D images of live organisms. That’s essential because planktonic species identification often requires an observation on both right and left hand sides of all appendages of a given animal. We reduced the SPIM energy needs by 80% by miniaturizing it.” The Tara Oceans expedition is also a matter of sophisticated engineering at the forefront of research. In the case of a problem concerning the transfer of images or the iden-tification of a species, the on-board team can contact Emmanuel Reynaud in Dublin using special satellite-communication software pro-vided by the Zeiss Company. “It’s the first time this telemetric program will be tested on a boat. I’ll be able to see, at home in Dublin, what the shipboard team are looking at.”

Another example of sophisticated instru-mentation aboard Tara involves the continuous underway monitoring of seawater surface. Four different apparatuses, most of them prototypes:

the AC-s, the TSG, the FRRF, the SeaFlow . As the schooner sails along, seawater flows through a special intake fitted to the underside of the bow and is systematically analysed. First, the TSG (for Thermosalinograph), measures the surface water temperature and salinity that is part of any ocean survey cruise. Then, the AC-s measures the bulk properties of the matter to obtain par-ticulate size distribution, for example. This is a prototype developed in Emmanuel Boss labora-tory in the University of Maine (USA).

Third, The Fast Repetition Rate Fluorome-ter (FRRF), provided by Zbigniew Kolber and Sasha Tozzi from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Institute (USA), measures the photosynthetic activity of any phytoplanktonic organisms in the water (see the article The plankton jungle: the second lung of the planet).

Finally, the SeaFlow, developed by Jar-red Swalwell at the University of Washing-ton (USA) is a flow-cytometer that measured continuously the structure of phytoplankton assemblage in 1-20 microns in size.

Tara is also fitted with another flow-cytometer, the FlowCam, invented by Mike Sireacki at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (USA) that can periodically photograph phytoplankton from 10 microns to 2 millim in size. All comple-

mentary, those devices inform on oceans biology, chemistry and physics.

It is the first time that this new discipline of “high technology science” will be provided on a sail boat. But another challenge after collection and on-board analysis, is sample and data classifi-cation. On the wooden ships of yesterday’s explo-rers, naturalists were weighed down with piles and piles of books, reports, boxes and herbaria. The pioneering naturalists were obsessed with their la-bels, their reports and their drawings; they rightly felt it absolutely necessary to mention the name of the collector, the place, the date and a huge amount of information about the surrounding environmental conditions (temperature, altitude, weather and so on), all measured with the best instruments of the time.

In the twenty-first century researchers have even more data and samples to deal with and one

solution to this problem could be the bar code (it goes without saying that computers are indispen-sable). “If we wanted to analyse all the images and samples produced by the expedition we would need at least 20 years. It would be a huge underta-king. Therefore we have decided to develop a sor-ting system to identify any sample, data or image collected during the expedition using a bar code that can be used to relate it to the underway mea-suremts.” This huge quantity of data come from the 3D microscopy and flow cytometry: with 100,000 protists waiting to be discovered, as well as all the other. Little-known organisms of phyto-plankton, the task is enormous.

Researchers will in fact create a completely new oceanographic data bank similar to those used in molecular biology. “All the information relating to signals and images will be added to the same database. Open to all and free of co-pyrights, this bio-bank may become one of the largest of its kind in the world.” If the previous centuries were a time of “cabinet of curiosities” private collections and natural history mu-seums, the twenty-first century will be the one of integrated banks of biological data. When it comes from the oceans, we can count on Tara!

1* Journal Tara expéditions N°5 is on line on www.taraexpeditions.org

Tara Oceans pushes the boundaries of Natural History

In the nineteenth century, the Beagle of Charles Darwin, measured 27 meters long and carried 64 people aboard;

its 36 modern counterpart, the schooner Tara, carries just 14 people... plus technical equipment for oceanographic research!

9

Memories from stopovers“In my role as logistics coordinator for the expedi-tion I have been present at 13 out of the 16 port visits so far. I can remember very clearly Tara unloading her plankton in the port of Djibouti, squeezed between a Yemeni dhow loaded with animals and a merchant ship offloading cars. Each to his own trade!I usually arrive in the destination port one or two days before Tara and nearly every time I hear the locals say something like «We’ve never had so much wind» or «This heat isn’t normal.» It’s enough to make you believe that the signs of climate change are preceding Tara wherever she goes!” oliVier

Quesnel, Tara oCeans logisTiCs CoordinaTor

“My fondest memory of a port visit was when Tara reached Malta because I used to live there and hadn’t returned for nearly 10 years. Tara was moored alongside the quay in front of the United Nations office where I had my first job. What bet-ter way to return? It still gives me a thrill when I think about it!” raCHel moreau, permiTs and en-

VironmenT CoordinaTor

“Our visit to Libya was memorable because we were able to take samples close to the coast which is quite rare but provides precious information for the scientists. A few unexpected administra-tive problems meant that we had to remain stuck in Tripoli Port for 30 hours. Happily for us the situation was resolved thanks to the Libyan au-thorities, Libya’s consul to France and the French embassy over there. The manner of our release was extremely comical: Libyan customs officers boarded Tara at midnight and spent a long time writing down phonetic versions of our first and last names in Arabic. When this important pape-rwork was done we were free to leave!” HerVé bourmaud, CapTain of Tara

“I loved our visit to Malta: the boat surrounded by huge jellyfish as we came into port, the co-lourful domes of Valletta, the fronts of the houses peppered with little windows, the quiet streets... Maltese men play a game much like bowls but they use wooden cylinders and they have several jacks. Life is good on this island, once famous for its pirates!” saCHa bolleT, CorrespondenT on Tara

from sepTember To noVember 2009

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by dino di méo

Rachel Moreau, a lawyer specializing in human rights and the environment, had her task cut out for her on the Tara Oceans expedition.

“I take care of international coordination and relations with the countries we visit, working closely with the French foreign affairs ministry” says Rachel, now used to visiting embassies and consulates. “It is very important for us to get permission to take samples. We have to send our requests six months in advance to make sure we respect the laws of each country. The organisms we study belong to their national waters,” she says. “In the Mediterranean for instance we had to ask for a new permission every week. I can’t go into too much detail but we have had a few problems with certain maritime borders.”

She met Romain Troublé (operations director for Tara Oceans) while in Barcelona with the IUCN and volunteered for the expedition. “My best memory is when Libya agreed to allow us in. It was a big challenge and it went well.” On the other hand, the trickiest moment was when we put in to Tunisia a week before the presidential elections. “But what im-presses me most is this idea of sharing, the team spirit and the fact that we are setting up this biobank which will be freely accessible to scientists the world over and to all the countries we call at.”

Permission for sampling:

a legal headacheProfile: Rachel Moreau.

At the heart of the American desert

In the media

by lisa garnier

In addition to the great send-off for Tara as she left Lorient (France), an event promoting the expedition was also held in the vast dome of Biosphere2* in Arizona (USA). It was organi-zed by one of Tara’s American scientific coordinators, Matthew Sullivan, and by Katrina Mangin who is the Science Education Outreach Director at the University of Arizona. Visitors to the event were invited to sample the “ocean” to help them unders-tand the tasks being performed aboard the schooner Tara. Pos-ters and public conferences about the Tara Oceans Expedition were also put together.

Since the beginning of the voyage, several education pro-grammes have been made available to secondary-school tea-chers working in the Tucson area. “Living as we do at the heart

of the Arizona Desert, some of our students have never actually seen the ocean,” explains Victoria Milani. “Thanks to the expe-dition they have learnt about the schooner and concepts such as ocean zones, plankton, animal adaptation, and so on. They are very enthusiastic!” The National Science Foundation (NSF) is currently financing a module for secondary school students stu-dying biotechnology which consists of Margaret Wilch teachi-ng them how to isolate and sequence the genomes of marine vi-ruses. Even the students studying plastic arts have got involved! They have been working with Ellen McMahon on exploiting images from the expedition for communication purposes and their work is currently displayed in the Biosphere2 dome. *Biosphere2 is an experimental site whose purpose is to reproduce by artificial means an ecosystem in an enclosed space. The experiment ended in 1994 when the site was handed over to the University of Arizona for use as a permanent laboratory.

Learn more: Biosphere2 http://www.b2science.org Education programmehttp://www.b2science.org/institute/program-tara-curric.htmlDesign+Science exhibitionhttp://web.cfa.arizona.edu/art/story?storyid=2187

The Thalassa TV programme about the sea, broadcasts on Friday evenings on the France 3 TV station, is following the expedition throughout the 2009-2010 season. Journalists from the programme will be broadcasting directly from the ship as they assist the ship’s crew and scientists. These reports will be broadcast through the Planète Thalassa channel which will devote a large part of its daily news programme to the expedition. The French press agency AFP

is one of Tara’s partners and will be dispatching updates on the expedition to France and abroad. In the printed press the Métro daily newspaper will be providing updates every Thursday. The ra-dio station France Info will also be keeping its listeners informed. On the Internet, the Tara Oceans website at www.taraexpeditions.org will be following the expedition in real time and the site www.actu-environnement.com will be publishing monthly updates.

Cotylorhiza tuberculata or «fried-egg» jellyfish off Malta. © F.Limena/Fonds Tara

The students are passionate about marine biology even though

they live far from the sea.



11

by raCHel moreau*

Fulfilling not only the dreams of adults, Tara is also opening up new horizons for the young.

The Tara Junior Club is a great opportunity for kids to discover, discuss, and learn about scientific issues and encourages them to raise awareness, take action and dream of a better fu-ture. Biodiversity, sustainable development, glo-bal warming and everything concerning planet Earth are just some of the themes actively dealt with by the Tara Oceans education programme.

They can discover new possibilities, new caree-rs, and find out how Etienne Bourgois and Eric Karsenti turned their dream into the reality of a three-year expedition around the world... There’s no doubt about it, Tara Junior Club is packed full of new ideas for budding adventurers!

This profoundly human dimension of Tara’s voyages, this dreamlike quality which allows us to address crucial environmental and scientific issues as she sails around the planet, has attrac-ted the support of many partners in education, in particular the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) whose symbol is proudly displayed on the ship’s hull.

The Tara Oceans educational programme: learn as the expedition progresses.

Tara Oceans offers teachers a new ap-proach to school curricula through the won-derful adventure of the Tara. In September 2009, as Tara was leaving the port of Lorient, 60 schools in Brittany decided to follow the schooner’s adventure. The westerly wind also blew in a number of teaching resources now available online from a website designed specifically for children and their teachers: www.tarajunior.org.

A total of 140 school groups have visited the ship and nearly 3,300 pupils are working on various projects related to the expedition. It has been a huge success, similar to the previous voyage which was followed by 140 groups as Tara drifted with the Arctic ice floes for 507 days.

Pupils from primary and secondary schools can experience the Tara Oceans expedition in real time and put their questions to the crew. Videos, photos, articles, ideas for research... all the classroom materials needed to understand the life of Tara’s crew and the scientific research being carried out are available. Children can also catch up with Tara Oceans at Cité des Sciences and Palais de la Découverte in Paris and Cité de la Voile and the oceanographical ship Thalassa in Lorient.

Local events are taking place in the Paris re-gion, with the aid of the Regional Council and help from the association Planète Sciences, to encourage young people to discover science and what it is all about.

Since Tara set sail around the planet, the education programme has been extended to French-speakers and French schools abroad through an operation entitled «Lycées du grand

large». A teaching kit is soon to be translated into several languages so that children from the countries Tara visits can take part in the adven-ture and the expedition’s message of hope can reach as many people as possible.

The Tara Junior Club for budding explo-rers.

The Tara Junior Club is aimed at children and teenagers from 6 to 18 years old. It is full of ar-ticles, interviews, games and experiments to do at home and keeps you up to date with events related to the scientific and environmental is-sues addressed by Tara. Membership is free for all young explorers.

Young people can also get to know some of Tara’s friends, like the site «M’TaTerre» (run by ADEME) which teaches older children all about renewable energies and the environment, the WWF Panda Club, the United Nations Tunza Club, and the Saga Sciences documen-taries published by the scientific research orga-nization CNRS.

Meanwhile, as Tara sails the seven seas off faraway shores, more and more children are discovering an amazing exploration ship as she visits their country... and we think that is mar-vellous! * Tara Oceans’ coordinator for authorizations and the environment.

References

Materials for teachers:- The educational programme www.tarajunior.org in the Tara Education section.- In Brittany, the “En suivant Tara” activity on the regional education authority’s website.- Contact: [email protected] For young explorers: www.tarajunior.org in the Club Tara Junior section.

An adventure for the young

Children at every port of callCrew-member Marion Lauters recalls her encounters with children during her time aboard.

by dino di méo

Tara Oceans expedition provided the opportunity for the crew to meet children and raise awareness about the environment. Marion Lauters welcomed the children aboard at most of Tara Oceans’ Mediterranean stopo-vers. She holds a vocational degree in environment and ecology and a bachelor’s degree in the biology of orga-nisms. She also spent nine months aboard the schooner during the vessel’s mission on the Arctic ice sheet. For the Tara Oceans expedition, Marion was in charge of embarking the yacht’s stores before it sailed from Lo-rient and she was also quartermaster during the Medi-terranean leg of the voyage.

Of the voyage so far, the visit to Naples seems to have left you with the most vivid memories …

Our call there was an outright success. The classes of primary

schoolchildren we met from the French Institute had been trac-king the expedition closely at school since it started, and they arrived well primed with questions. In Naples, we focused on the Stazione Zoologica, a prestigious laboratory where Chris Bowler (one of the Tara Oceans coordinators) had previously worked in the company of other scientists. First, there was a showing of the film Tara, journey to the heart of the climate engine at the French Institute, which was attended by almost 150 schoolchildren. Then an evening event was organized at the Stazione Zoologica. The children arrived with a detailed map of the expedition, a model of the yacht and a seemingly endless list of questions.

What kind of questions did they ask?

They were chiefly interested in practical matters such as “How do fifteen people manage to live together in such cramped quar-ters?” or “What qualifications does one need to do this kind of

work?”. The students were mainly French-speaking, either from expatriate families or pupils at the French school in the city.

Were there any other memorable landfalls?Earlier, in Algiers, a secondary school welcomed us. The pupils

had already learnt a lot about the environment from our expe-dition to the Arctic. The following day they crowded aboard the vessel to speak about Tara Oceans.

What was your job when you were aboard?I was mainly in charge of embarking supplies prior to sailing and

cooking on board. After that, I was also put in charge of a scientific experiment. I replaced one of the scientific coordinators, Christian Sardet. So for two weeks I was doing two jobs on board! It was a bit of a balancing act but my scientific training helped me cope. I left the ship at Naples and returned to France by lorry. And then I cycled along the entire course of the Loire River, all the way to Nantes…

Pupils at the French School in Tripoli (Libya) visit Tara. © G.Kervella

The children drew a map of Tara’s route. © Fonds Tara Tara off Vesuvius drawn by a young Neapolitan. © Fonds Tara Scientists with Cypriot children. © D.Sauveur/Fonds Tara

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by lisa garnier

Samples taken on board Tara are dispatched to the EMBL1 lab in Germany and then sent to the four corners of the globe for analysis. This report looks at the Roscoff Biology Research Centre, a centre of excellence for research into marine biodiversity in Brittany, France.

Barely visible to the human eye, measuring between 0.6 mi-crom and a few millim across, marine protists reign supreme at the Roscoff Biological Station. These single-cell organisms have been welcomed into the heart of this institution - older than the Eiffel Tower - by research scientists who are passionately devoted to their cause.

FrédEric Mahé is a postdoctoral researcher and a member of EPPO2, one of the teams working under Colomban de Vargas, Tara Oceans’ scientific coordinator. “With protists, we are dis-covering how little we really know.” Lucie Bittner had scarcely finished her PhD thesis when she suddenly found herself on the schooner in the middle of the Mediterranean. “Plankton pro-tists open up a whole new field of possibilities”, is her delighted assessment. As evidence, she shows where the lines of animals and plants fit on the evolutionary tree amid the vast and ancient diversity of their single-cell ancestors.

“Technological progress in genetics and computing over these last few years has once again placed marine models at the centre of biology,” explains Bernard Kloareg, the centre’s director. “In-deed it was there in the seas that life first exploded into being, with four to five times as much diversity as on land. DNA, a universal molecule and a sort of ‘memory’ of living organisms, allows us to explore this diversity.” The task is huge, but by no means impossible for a centre which is one of the largest re-search facilities in Europe. A new building, dedicated to the Eu-rope’s first marine genomics institute3, is being built between the historic granite buildings.

In the meantime, the first samples delivered by Tara are beginning to reveal their secrets. Margaux Carmichael, a se-cond-year Masters student, is busy taking pictures of the cells with an electron microscope: they are sure to come out well. Sarah Romac, a technician on the team, is extracting DNA and RNA from reference protists, for studying the ecology of ocean plankton. Over 2,000 living strains of marine protists are frolicking in the test tubes of the Roscoff Culture Col-lection Culture4, one of the largest collections in the world. The DNA and RNA molecules extracted by Sarah will be sent to the French National Sequencing Centre (Génoscope) to be sequenced by a team headed up by researchers Olivier Jaillon and Patrick Vincker. This will enable the unknown protists collected on the schooner to be classified with res-pect to the different groups of living organisms. FrédEric is one of those taking part in this work. He is a biocomputing specialist and will be comparing tens of millions of genome sequences. However the most refined aspect of the work is actually combining these genetic analyses, which most people

do virtually, with views of the organisms in question under the microscope. This complex task is the work of Sébastien Colin and funded by Veolia Environmental Services. “I have to find relevant markers for all protists in order to be able to observe them using a high-content bioimager. The key

challenge is to achieve this using a single protocol.” It would be difficult to leave the laboratory building without taking a look at the observations filmed by Johan Decelle, a PhD student working with research scientist Fabrice Not on the relationships between Acantharea and their symbiotic micro-algae. “Very little is known about these symbioses, borne hi-ther and thither on marine currents. Ernst Haeckel observed and drew them in the 19th century – but without knowing what they were.”

Colomban’s enthusiastic, passionate team is just like this sta-tion in Brittany itself: welcoming and at the cutting edge of re-search – a bug it’s easy to catch here! 1 European Molecular Biology Laboratory2 Evolution of plankton and paleo-oceans3 50% financed by the Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC, Paris), 25% by Brittany Regional Council, and the remainder by Rennes Educational Authority and Finistère Council. 4 Roscoff Culture Collection, http://www.sb-roscoff.fr/Phyto/RCC/

From boat to labLe Journal Tara visits a new lab for every edition of the magazine. Focus on the biology research centre in Roscoff, Brittany.

marine CHemisTryThe chemical analysis of samples from Tara will be carried out at Roscoff by Pascal Morin’s team. The programme will include a description of the nutritional elements of water: phosphates, silicates and nitrates. This is important because “the degree of nutritional richness affects that of plankton.”

a growing seCTorRoscoff Biology Research Centre is experiencing exponen-tial growth. In the last 6 years its numbers have doubled. Some 330 people now work on this site which is dedicated to pure research into marine organisms. Overseen by the CNRS and the UPMC, the station has an annual budget of €14 million.

Since their appearance one billion years ago, protists have been

the fundamental components of our planet’s evolution and environment.

Tara Oceans scientific coordinator Colomban de Vargas (centre) with some of his team at the Roscoff Biological Station © L.Garnier/Fonds Tara

Coccolithophore under the electron microscope © M.Carmichaël/Roscoff/Tara Oceans

Roscoff biology research centre (Brittany, France) © sbr



13

In the wake of Tara Oceans

Elisabeth Delorme © EDF Diversiterre Foundation

Yvon Le Maho © EDF Diversiterre Foundation

Elisabeth Delorme, EDF’s patronage manager.

How do you explain the commitment of EDF and its EDF Diversiterre Foundation in favour of the marine environment?

We commit ourselves to whatever is consis-tent with EDF’s values. We are convinced that the answer to our energy needs can be com-patible with respecting our environment, and we are developing our knowledge of certain environments to obtain a better assessment of the risks we are subjecting them to and how to prevent them. Water and the marine envi-ronment are key factors for the energy indus-try, so our aim is to protect the sea.

In this respect, EDF is currently conside-

ring the options for the development of re-newable marine energies (tidal turbines, wave power, etc.) and is not limiting its research to the technical aspects alone. The Foundation’s partnerships extend the actions of the Sustai-nable Development Department in terms of the Group’s activities and the exercise of its social and environmental responsibilities.

In order to facilitate contacts between man, the land and the sea, we consider that the de-fence of the marine environment begins with the coastline, continues through scientific re-search and calls for the general public to be made more aware of these issues.

Together with specialists in the protection of biodiversity, the EDF Diversiterre Foun-dation is striving to acquire a better unders-tanding of the living world, and also to ensure that our environment is appreciated and res-pected, especially by the younger generation.

What is your conception of environ-mental patronage?

The Foundation supports numerous pro-jects. Among them are the Tara Oceans Ex-pedition, and Jacques Perrin’s film Oceans, whose release coincides with the launch of International Biodiversity Year. These two actions summarize our philosophy towards the marine environment which are ‘defence’ and ‘awareness’. The sea is part of daily life for French people, who are well-placed to lay claim to the magnificent “French archipela-go” promoted by the Grenelle environmental talks on the sea. This is a national treasure that we share with the entire planet! More broadly, I think we need to seek to develop cooperation between sponsors. If we and our partners succeed in raising the environment to the same level as cultural patronage, consi-derable progress could be made.

Yvon Le Maho is a CNRS research director, a member of the French Academy of Science and a qualified member of the Board of the EDF Diversiterre Foundation.

Do we have to wait until the oceans are as damaged as the wetlands before we decide to take care of them?

Moreover, marine ecosystems are far more sensitive to climate change than we thought. An increase in temperature of a few tenths of a degree at the surface of the southern ocean has almost instant consequences on the en-tire food chain, from krill to penguins and the other large predators. The penguin’s ability to survive and reproduce is decreasing. This is a worrying phenomenon that is explained, in particular, by the fact that high temperatu-res are unfavourable to the growth of marine organisms like krill, the only marine biomass which is greater than the human biomass, and

which can only survive within a very limited temperature range. It is very important to re-member that the GIEC forecasts an average temperature increase of 0.2°C per decade for the next twenty years.

Predicting the impact of climate change on biodiversity is a major issue, especially in the oceans. In a broader sense, it seem to me to be essential to step up research programmes on biodiversity with a multi-disciplinary ap-proach, by making physicians and biologists work together, and economists too, to deve-lop new regulations and demonstrate that there is a real economic interest in protec-ting biodiversity. Because over and above the scientific arguments, we need to set up new forms of management if we are to save, for example, the red tuna or Arctic cod; we need to concentrate on the ecosystem as a whole, from the smallest elements to the great ma-rine animals, as Jacques Perrin’s film Oceans shows so well.

The combat against climate change and the preservation of biodiversity are widely acknowledged to be the two great challenges to which we have to find a solution in this decade. They are an integral part of the EDF’s activities as a producer and distributor of low CO2-emitting energy and as a user of open spaces. EDF, a conscientious energy-producer which is aware of its accountability towards future generations, deci-ded to extend its commitment in these fields through its cor-porate EDF Diversiterre Foundation by putting them firmly at the heart of its areas of involvement.

It was with the aim of supporting this process of research into the preservation of the environment for both the individual and society that the EDF Diversiterre Foundation has decided to support the Tara Oceans scientific expedition.

By supporting the Tara Oceans expedition, the EDF Founda-tion is participating in a key scientific and human adventure that is completely consistent with the company’s desire to change

behaviour patterns and increase scientific knowledge that can bring hope in the face of the mutations that our planet is under-going, such as climate change and the erosion of biodiversity. It also coincides with the EDF Foundation’s special commitment to biodiversity, whether exceptional or everyday, from much-ma-ligned «weeds» to little-known plankton, which are the keysto-nes of the ecosystem that nurtures us.

Always willing to support bodies devoted to the protection of nature, the EDF Diversiterre Foundation is the historic par-tner of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation for Nature and Man-kind and participates in coastal protection by supporting the French coastline protection agency Conservatoire National du Littoral, in bird protection with the Ligue de la Protection des Oiseaux, in the protection of sensitive species with Réserves Naturelles de France, and in research into threatened species with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN red list).

EDF Diversiterre Foundation supports the people and organizations

actively involved in preserving nature and biodiversity.

“Our philosophy towards the marine environments can be summed up in two words: defence and awareness.”

“It is essential to boost biodiversity research

programmes.”

The Mediterranean during a storm.© S.Bollet/Fonds Tara

www.taraexpeditions.org THE WARMS SEAS CAMPAIGN


14

by lisa garnier

For how much longer can humanity count on the protection and the rich resources of the coral reefs? Tara has set her course for the warm waters where these threatened marine organisms build their magnificent underwater ‘mountain chains’.

284,000 square kilom: that is the current total surface area of the world’s coral reefs, which is slightly larger than the Alps mountain chain in Europe; 284,000 square kilom of very hard rock built entirely by tiny living organisms which are in fact soft-bodied like jellyfish or sea anemones. And yet, if the acidity of the oceans increases just a little more this century, then the gentle construction work of the corals will probably disappear for ever from the face of the earth. Made from a hard calcareous substance, some of these reefs may well see their growth hindered by the death of the corals and, indeed, slowly dissolve into the seawater under the action of the waves...

But who really knows? Some species of coral may well resist and adapt themselves to the new conditions so the schooner Tara is going to see whether the increase in carbon dioxide in our oceans, which is the principal cause of water acidity and probably due to human activity, is already having an effect on the growth of these industrious little reef builders. «The idea is to take 50 cm core samples from the dead part of certain corals, the porites corals to be exact,» explains Eric Tambutté, researcher at the Scientific Centre of Monaco. Once we have the core samples scientists will be able to cut off fine slivers and X-ray them to count their growth rings, in much the same way as we do for trees. “A core sample of this size corresponds to 25 years of lime secretion in this species. And this is long enough for us to be able to observe a change in the rhythm of the se-cretion due to a reduction in the pH of the water,” he adds.

However, identifying a problem does not solve it. And in the specific case of the growth of these corals, scientists still do not understand the biological mechanism which allows the animals to build their structures of calcium carbonate. “In order to build these edifices, corals synthesize organic mole-cules which arrange themselves into a net-like structure on which they deposit mineral particles from the water, which they fix in place chemically. However we haven’t yet been able to describe in detail the molecules responsible for this trans-formation. ”

And yet the corals are very industrious because they make between two and six kilograms of calcium carbonate a year for every square metre. The species which produce the most are helped by symbiotic algae which live in the coral’s tissue, the famous zooxanthellae. And once again scientists do not understand exactly what their role is in the coral’s chemical process. “As well as taking core samples, we shall take samples of living tissue which we will then study in the laboratory to try to identify the key proteins involved in the process,” says

Eric Tambutté. And perhaps this will provide us with new avenues of research with our coral slides.

In fact it is all a question of balance. And before events plunge us into imbalance, Conny Maier1 and Aline Tribollet2 will be taking a close look at this source of shelter and habitat for many species of crustacean and fish living on the reefs. These magnificent underwater structures are in fact full of holes which provide homes for worms, sponges, mussels and many other animals whose presence is barely noticed from the outside. Other microscopic things, such as mushrooms and algae, live in galleries built in the very heart of the calca-reous structure. All these organisms play a part in the gradual erosion of the rock, what scientists call bioerosion, the oppo-site process to reef building; the corals lay the bricks and the borers demolish it. Today, the processes of bioconstruction and bioerosion are balanced.

However the borers may weaken the coral structures if the latter begin to make thinner structures and if the erosion of the borers becomes faster than the coral’s growth. The reef would just not be able to withstand the force of storms and would gradually disappear down to the maximum depth at which zooxanthellae and corals can survive...

Corals have been evolving on earth for 425 million years but are they now experiencing a grave threat to their existence? The Tara Oceans Expedition intends to provide decisive informa-tion, after all, 284,000 square kilom of underwater mountains may depend upon it.

1 Villefranche-sur-Mer Oceanography Laboratory, France. 2 Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD, France).

An uncertain future for coralAs she sails the warm seas, Tara will be looking into how coral grows.

If the acidity of the oceans increases just a little more, then the

gentle construction work of the corals will probably disappear from

the face of the earth.

The scientists do two or three dives a day. Each dive lasts about an hour. © J.Girardot/Fonds Tara Sample of Acropora collected off Djibouti. © J.Girardot/Fonds Tara

Francesca Benzoni, Tara Oceans’ scientific coordinator for coral studies, assesses the first coral-reef mission at Djibouti.

“Diving twice a day, it was non-stop work! But our twenty-seven dives enabled us all (we were six scientists aboard) to achieve the goals we had been set. And perhaps we shall exceed

them since we are considering establishing new partnerships to work on the data we have collected. We harvested one thousand samples of which five hundred came from living tis-sue by non-invasive methods. The good news is that, in the 11 years since the last survey (at the end of the 1990s), the Djibouti reef has not deteriorated and is in good health! We

even discovered a very rich area as yet unk-nown, even to the local people. And the locals gave us and the rest of the Tara crew a very warm welcome; indeed, everyone understood what we were trying to do and helped as best they could”

Institutions participating in the Djibouti Coral mission

Scientific Centre of Monaco (CSM), Mo-naco, Monte Carlo - Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean, CORDIO East Africa,

Mombasa, Kenya - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Noumea, New Cale-donia - International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Malaga, Spain - Labora-toire d’Océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Villefranche-sur-mer, France - Museum of Tropical Queensland (MTQ), Townsville, Aus-tralia - NOVA South-eastern University, Flo-rida, USA - University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), Florida, USA - University of Mila-no-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. LG

Djibouti, the first staging post in the study of coral reefs

INDIANOCEAN

NORTHATLANTICOCEAN

LORIENT

LISBON

TANGIER

ALGIERSBIZERTE

NAPLES

LAVALETTE

TRIPOLI

BARCELONANICE DUBROVNIK

ATHENSLIMASSOL

BEYROUTH

PORT SAIDSHARM EL SHEIKH JEDDAH

DJIBOUTI

ABU DHABI MASCAT MUMBAÏ

GOA

MALÉ

ST DENISPORT LOUIS

SAINT BRANDON

ANTSIRANANAMAYOTTE

EUROPA TOLIARA

CAPE TOWN

SEPTEMBER

2010

DEPARTURESEPTEMBER

2009MARCH2010



15

THE WARMS SEAS CAMPAIGN

A closer look at coral reefs

Counting shells

With more than 93,000 species already identified, the marine molluscs are one of the largest groups living in our oceans. And it is a group which is growing in size every year

because, for example, the majority of the 1,400 new species discovered in Europe were members of this soft-bodied and hard-shelled family. Mussels, cuttlefish and scallops are the best-known examples of the group in temperate latitudes but what about those living on coral reefs? Australia’s Great Bar-rier Reef is home to more than 5,000 species. This fact makes Daniela Basso, professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca, optimistic about the huge numbers of new species which will be discovered in the samples taken by Tara’s scientists from coral reefs which have never been studied before. The task is enormous so the scientists will first focus on empty shells, both big and small, which are easily identifiable. These shells will be collected from the sediment at the foot of the reef and then carefully sorted according to species. “For the moment we shall just try to get a rough idea of the situation, take a snapshot of the biodiversity currently existing on the reefs – and that’s already a huge job!” concludes Daniela. LG

last minute changes

Instead of exploring the waters around the Chagos Ar-chipelago Tara will be heading for Saint Brandon Rocks, off Mauritius. Tara Oceans coral coordinator Francesca Benzoni suggests that the rocks are unexplored, isolated and a poten-tial marine protected area.

Any exploration carried out by Tara’s scientists could be of great interest to local ecological initiatives.

by lisa garnier The advantage of a sailing boat is that it can anchor in shallow waters. And when that same boat is fitted out with high-performance microscopes it becomes the perfect research platform for studying coral reefs, those zones of unequalled diversity found in the world’s warmest seas. Indeed, reefs provide protec-tion and sustenance to several hundred spe-cies of fish, sponge, crustacean and mollusc. They are also home to the microscopic beings, such as bacteria, algae and fungi, which live among both the dead and living parts of these organisms as they build their brittle fortresses under the sea.

Although they may resemble fortresses the fact is that certain corals seem to be incapa-

ble of resisting the unrelenting increase in the temperature of the world’s oceans. Which is why scientists are doing their utmost to un-derstand how the environment affects these underwater tropical forests. “With Tara, our first objective is to inventory the diversity of corals on each reef we explore and a certain number of the organisms which live among them,” explains Francesca Benzoni, Tara Oceans’ head of research into corals. This means taking samples of large algae, molluscs, protists living on foraminiferal beds, and bac-teria which scientists can then take back with them to their respective laboratories. “Only then will we be able to compare the diversity at the heart of each species according to phy-sical factors such as water temperature, local

features, and the geological history of the is-lands.” For Francesca and the other scientists involved in the expedition, the schooner Tara represents an ideal opportunity to explore these little-studied reefs. “This will be the first time that samples of living coral will be taken from certain reefs, such as those of Dji-bouti, Mayotte and Mauritius, for the purpo-se of having their species identified through gene analysis.”

And classifying coral species is far from simple; however one day scientists will finally be able to identify each species according to its respective ocean, a prerequisite for any detailed study of these organisms’ uncertain future.

liTTle known Coral reefsAlthough some coral reefs, such as the

Great Barrier Reef in Australia, are quite famous, the truth is that proper knowledge of the state of coral reefs remains fragmented and incomplete.The quantity of mushrooms, algae and microbes living in the midst of reef dwelling species make it difficult to conduct surveys of these particular animals.In order to determine their resistance capacity to climate change and ocean acidification, Tara Oceans intends to carry out the first general diagnosis of various reefs (the study is based on reefs that are located in particular ocean zones, or are relatively sheltered)

life in oCeaniC deserTsOceanic deserts are zones which lack the orga-nic matter necessary for planktonic life.Tara Oceans intends to realize a precise des-cription of these environments as well as an analysis of the living beings capable of survi-ving in them.For example, in the oriental Mediterranean, the water lacks phosphate, without which the DNA molecule cannot be created. Do these waters contain a type of plankton adapted to these conditions?

upwelling zonesIn some parts of the globe, ocean currents surface, gorged with mineral salts and de-composing detritus linked to underwater life (dead animals, all sorts of waste, etc.).These currents act like a sort natural fertili-zer pump: thanks to them, planktonic life is built up, fructifies and provides food for fish and crustaceans. Because they are important fishing zones, these areas have an immediate impact on human populations. Tara Oceans aims to determine the key plankton species responsible for this explosion of life.

Molluscs are extremely important members of the oceanic world.

Tara moored near a coral reef off the Moucha Islands (Djibouti) © J.Girardot/Fonds Tara

© be-poles for the Fonds Tara

THe Crossing of oCeaniC pro-VinCes

What landscapes are concealed by the sea? This question may seem peculiar, but the fact is that on land, landscapes are described in terms of their geography and of the plants they carry. On the other hand, ever since scientific interest for oceans has been shown, studies have focused on their physical characteristics - wind, currents, salinity levels- and on their «geography»: depths, coast shapes, irregularities of ocean depth, algae chlorophyll intensity, etc.But what can be said about the nature of the plank-ton and algae? Not much, because microscopes, which are required to obtain such knowledge aren’t usually brought onboard oceanographic ships. Not until 1998 did a map of bio-geographical ocean provinces (based on physical and chemical ocean characteristics as well as data concerning the distribution of certain plankton species) see the light of day . If a comparison were to be drawn, with such criteria, savannahs, forests and deserts would be defined in terms of the absence or pre-sence of oak trees, dandelions, or bluegrass... By focusing on the description of plankton in each and every oceanic province, it is a huge gap in ocean knowledge that Tara Oceans is proceeding to fill.

THE FIRST YEAR OF THE EXPEDITION

www.taraexpeditions.org POINTS OF VIEW


16

Deep water

filming

Rémi Hamoir, ship’s artist.

Joining in Dubrovnik, Rémi was Tara’s artist for the voyage to Athens.

View of Tara’s nets. © S.Bollet/Fonds Tara

© Rémi Hamoir

by miCHael piTioT*

Tara Oceans is a film-making gamble as well as a scientific challenge. Four documentaries are in production, with delivery planned for the end 2010. Grinding ice-sheets and endangered bears are giving way to the undersea world and its secret societies. The series aims at offering journey of initation into the heart of the living world and its interactions, especially with the climate.

The story of Tara Oceans in images starts with showing plan-kton in all its forms and sharing this astonishing world, which is almost entirely invisible to the naked eye, with the wider public. For this safari into the world of copepods, diatoms and jellyfish, the action draws on the hi-tech sampling carried out on the high seas by the Tara and is backed by a determined scientific team. The focus of the series will change frequently from satellite mo-nitoring to microscopic observation. The aim is to learn more about the much-discussed plankton “blooms” (that sudden surge of life that takes place like a chain reaction in the oceans), dis-cover the ocean gyres or experience submergence in the deep ocean. These films, conceived and produced by Michael Pitiot and Thierry Ragobert, make use of experienced camera opera-tors (including Christophe Castagne, François de Riberolles and Jérôme Teigné) who will take over from each other on board the Tara for the nine months of shooting. The submarine sequences are the work of Cyril Tricot.

These four films explore the other secret of the depths: natu-ral order. Immortal jellyfish, climatology, the food chain, energy chaos, but also the role of viruses, the impact of man... Like me-teorology, modern biology develops models which are predic-tive tools to understand how the ocean will, hopefully, curb the conflagration of our planet. Running through the background of all these films is a journey to the very heart of life. 1414 x 52 minutes in High Definition, a co-production between MC4, France3, Tara Foundation and Planète Thalassa.* Tara Oceans’ TV production coordinator..

“When I joined Tara I really had no idea how I was going to find the room, the time or the subjects for my paintings. I did not want to create a collection of pretty landscapes; instead my aim was to tell a human story. The elusive light

and life on the deck provided me with some precious mo-ments to paint. For me, the Tara trip was an unforgettable experience.” Please visit our online shop at www.taraexpeditions.org

All proceeds go to financing the expedition.

Memories from stopovers“Jeddah was a cultural shock. It’s a country which is very difficult to enter and we waited for hours in the commercial dock. The Kaust University was incre-dible, an extremely modern and spectacularly grand institution built in the desert in under two years.

Djibouti was memorable for our arrival in the port alongside some dhows which were loading zebus by crane, three at a time... welcome to Africa!” fabriCe

noT, Tara oCeans sCienTifiC CoordinaTor

“Moored off the Djibouti coast. We landed on an unknown beach, just like explorers from long ago.

We walked through the dunes and the palm groves, among wild dromedaries. We discovered a traditio-nal village called Kalaf, with huts made from palm wood. We met the chief of the tribe and drank tea with him. It was an improbable meeting of two cultures, two extremely different worlds...” daniel Cron, firsT maTe of THe Tara

“Barcelona in October 2009: first landfall since Lo-rient. Like a friend you haven’t seen for a month, I rejoined Tara in sunny Spain. The pleasure of seeing her again, the thrill, the «it seems like yesterday»... Two days to enjoy the ship before she leaves once more... far away, such is the life of Tara.” myriam THomas, Tara oCeans eVenTs CoordinaTor

www.taraexpeditions.orgPOINTS OF VIEW


17

inTerView by lisa garnier

In early January 2010 the French Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea, Jean-Louis Borloo, gave a New Year address at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and the Tara team attended the event. International Biodiversity Year 2010 is not just about celebrating biodiversity but also about finding ways to protect it.

On 12th January 2010, you launched the International biodiversity year with the showing of the film Océans by Jacques Per-rin, a beautiful ode to the sea. Should it be seen as a symbol?

Yes, clearly it should. The film Océans by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud illustrates the indisputable fact that the seas and the oceans were largely overlooked in the twen-tieth century. Now, at the start of the 21st century, I am convinced that it is the sea that will save the land. For us the sea is “the cradle of life”, a considerable source of biodiversity, food, medicines, molecules and energy; howe-ver, the sea is also a “giant with feet of clay” suffering from numerous problems such as overfishing, marine and land pollution, demo-graphic pressure, and so on. At the opening of the International Coral Reefs Initiative (ICRI) General Meeting with the Samoan Islands, on 12th January this year, we noted that only 30% of the coral reefs were in a good state of

conservation. I think no better symbol could be found than the Océans film to launch bio-diversity year. Fortunately for us in France and Europe, the people who are actively involved (scientists, navigators, elected representatives, and non-government organizations) are mo-

bilizing for action, particularly under the aegis of the Grenelle environment talks. We have already seen the launch last year of the “Days of the Sea” event, the classification of sea horses as a protected species, the European morato-rium on porbeagle shark fishing, the creation of a marine natural park at Mayotte, the sub-mission of the findings by the Grenelle’s 18 Operational Committees in the spring… We intend this biodiversity year to be an opportu-nity to launch numerous initiatives to improve nature protection and raise awareness among the public about our immense debt to the na-tural world. We shall be launching a «nature festival» similar to our annual national music festival (La Fête de la musique) and a natio-nal «biodiversity» competition. We shall also be setting up a Nature Agency comprised of the French coastal conservancy board (Conser-vatoire du Littoral), the French Marine Pro-

tected Areas Agency, and the French national parks federation … Furthermore, in Bali, at the forthcoming meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council on 24th, 25th and 26th February, we shall be pressing for the creation of an inter-national group of experts on biodiversity, like the one for climate change. To sum up in the well-formulated expression of the astrophysi-cist, Hubert Reeves, it is high time to treat this “Earth-ache” that is undermining us.

The Tara expedition is focusing on the plank-ton and micro-organisms that generate one-half of the oxygen we breathe and lie at the base of the undersea food chain. And yet, as you pointed out on Tuesday 12th January, this invisible biodiversity is affected by the increase in atmospheric CO2 and the acidifi-cation of the oceans. After the failure of Co-penhagen, what hope do we have of averting disaster and when is the next round of mee-tings?

Copenhagen was a stage in a complex, vital process. Now, like every stage, it is ne-cessarily incomplete or imperfect. However, for the first time, all the major countries of the world – whether it be China, the Uni-ted States, India, Brazil or the European Union – are committed to a joint process for reducing climate change. For the first time,

all the heads of State and Government have agreed to limit the temperature rise to 2°C in line with the recommendations formulated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For the first time, the deve-loped countries have made clear, sustainable financial commitments to benefit the most vulnerable countries. France wishes to take advantage of this momentum to launch fresh initiatives such as a meeting of the forest States and the active preparation of the forth-coming meetings at Bonn in June 2010 and at Mexico City in November 2010. I also made a solemn appeal, in parallel with the Euro-pean Council meeting at Seville on Saturday 16th January, for the immediate launch of a Fast Start program to begin financing pro-jects in the more vulnerable countries … In a word, the battle for the future generations has just begun.

Before “Tara Oceans”, Tara was shut fast in the Arctic ice. What must be done for those waters to remain a sanctuary for biodiversity? You invested much time and effort in the Co-penhagen talks. Are you prepared to do the same for the oceans, and represent France in any talks designed to protect them?

The Arctic and Antarctic polar regions do not only provide us with evidence of climate change, they also accelerate it because of their role in regulating the atmosphere. They are extremely vulnerable place where global warming is “vi-sible to the naked eye”. Let me remind you that the ice-sheet area has shrunk by 8% in fewer than 30 years. You will remember that France has for many years been passionate about pro-tecting the polar regions and their future; in 1991 our country pushed hard for the Antarctic to be designated a natural reserve dedicated to “Science and Peace”. Furthermore, France has had observer-status membership of the Arctic Council since 2000 and our voice commands all the more attention for our having no eco-nomic interests in the region. For instance, we were able to secure a ban on the marketing of seal-hunting products in Europe. In addition, the Grenelle environment talks in Paris have given us the opportunity to table new proposals that we shall go on to defend in all the interna-tional fora. These proposals include the creation of a “blue berets sea corps”, the institution of a genuine “UN of the seas” with widened powers, the introduction of a systematic marking of ship tanks to prevent illegal flushing of holds at sea, or the creation of protected marine areas on the high seas… To sum up, in this biodiversity year, it is imperative for us to make our presence felt on the two urgent issues which are the oceans and the polar regions.

Have you a message for the 100 scientists ta-king part in the Tara Oceans Expedition?

Naturally I have. I should like to tell them that our modern societies rely on their help in reconciling progress and the future. Indeed, the fundamental issue for us today is how to bridge the gap between scientists and poli-cy-makers. Scientists’ research, analyses and learned proceedings are necessary for us to make the right decisions and that is the road we have started to take under the aegis of the Grenelle environment talks. For example, here in France, we have created a Foundation for Biodiversity Research and a Higher Council on Biotechnology (Haut Conseil aux biotech-nologies). Accordingly, I wish this biodiversity year to be an opportunity for both recognizing and emphasizing the role of science in protec-ting our planet. Scientists point the way to our future.

The future of the oceans.This is international biodiversity year and Tara Oceans is taking part.

The Tara team thought it would be a great idea to interview the French Ecology Minister, Jean-Louis Borloo.

On 12th January this year Jean-Louis Borloo launched International Biodiversity Year. © MEEDDM/DICOM

“I wish this biodiversity year to be an opportunity for both recognizing and emphasizing the role of science

in protecting our planet.”

biodiversity news in brief

Tara Oceans is a certified «International Year of Biodiversity» project. World Biodiversity Day is on May 22 next.

The United Nations has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity to raise public awareness about the state of biodiversity and the consequences of its decline worldwide. Given the threats it faces, the preservation of biological diver-sity has become a worldwide concern.

The French Foundation for Research into Biodiversity (FRB) has decided to add its support and expertise to the Tara Oceans expedition. The Foundation has a vast scienti-fic knowledge of marine biodiversity and will be seeking a better understanding of the spatial organization of plankton ecosystems and how these systems react to change.

Memories from stopovers“My first memory has to be when the Tara left port, it is always something to remember. Three long blows on the ship’s horn and her silhouette gradually melting into the fog... On that 5th September the Tara did not fail, she was not heading for Greenland, or the Antarctic, or even for the drifting ice of the north. Those three blasts on the horn seemed so long. Like the 3 years she will take to sail around the world fishing for viruses to help us un-derstand our planet. When are you coming home?” pHilippe Clais, adminisTraTiVe manager of Tara oCeans

“I sailed on the first leg from Lorient to Lisbon. We entered the Tagus on the morning of the 10th September, my birthday. Not a bad present!Other fond memories were the children of Naples and Beirut with their large eyes filled with wonder and their complicated questions! And then there was the meeting with my thesis supervisor in Athens! And finally, the meetings with the scientists of Algiers and Beirut and the fantastic welcome we were given by all the embassies...Every port of call showed me something new about the fabulous human diversity that inhabits the shores of the Mediterranean! And all very emotional.” eriC karsenTi, direCTor of Tara oCeans

“Seeing the Tara alongside in Beirut Port under the warm summer sun... The Lebanon and the Lebanese have been a passion of mine for many years and Tara has been too, so this was a very special moment. We spent three marvellous days meeting Lebanese scientists, officials from the French Embassy and secondary school children. The magic of Tara Oceans and the Lebanon in one!” eloïse fonTaine, direCTor of CommuniCaTions for Tara oCeans

“My fondest memory of a port visit was when we arrived at Djibouti. We came alongside among dhows painted in bright colours and lots of smiling faces: it was fantastic! After several stressful days on the Red Sea, worried by the region’s reputation, we arrived with much relief in Djibouti which seemed to us like an oasis... And I must say that all our meetings, all our visitors and dealings with the dockers, were very pleasant indeed!” guillaume braCQ, CHief engineer of THe Tara

“ Tara’s visit to Nice on the south coast of France was a memorable mo-ment for me because she takes her name from another Tara which once sailed in those waters. The first Tara belonged to my grandfather who was also the grandfather of the current Tara’s owner, Etienne Bour-gois. For me this region reminds me of my childhood holidays, often spent aboard my grandfather’s yacht and in the company of my cousins. If only my grandfather knew!” romain Troublé; direCTor of opera-

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The diversity of planktonic organisms. 1. A marine worm Annelida, Polychaeta © M.Ormestad/Kahikai/Tara Oceans 2. A heteropod mollusk Atlanta peroni © C.&N.Sardet/CNRS/UPMC/Villefranche-sur-Mer/Ibisa/Tara Oceans

3. Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi © M. Carmichael/CNRS/UPMC/Station Biologique de Roscoff/Tara Oceans 4. Mollusk gymnosome pteropod Pneumodermopsis paucidens © C.&N.Sardet/CNRS/UPMC/Villefranche-sur-Mer/Ibisa/Tara

Oceans 5. Fish larva © M.Ormestad/Kahikai/Tara Oceans 6. A group of radiolarians © J.Decelle, E.Reynaud CNRS/UPMC/Roscoff/UCD/Tara Oceans 7. Annelida Polychaeta Tomopteris kefersteini © C.&N.Sardet/CNRS/UPMC/Villefranche-sur-Mer/

Ibisa/Tara Oceans 8. Mollusk pteropod (Cavolinia inflexa) © C.&N.Sardet/CNRS/UPMC/Villefranche-sur-Mer/Ibisa/Tara Oceans 9. Coccolithophore Coronosphaera mediterranea © M.Ormestad/Kahikai/Tara Oceans 10. Crustacean hy-perid amphipod © C.&N.Sardet/CNRS/UPMC/Villefranche-sur-Mer/Ibisa/Tara Oceans 11. Planktonic larva © M.Ormestad/Kahikai/Tara Oceans 12. Siphonophore © M.Ormestad/Kahikai/Tara Oceans 13. Dinoflagellate Dinophysis © M. Carmichael/

CNRS/UPMC/Station Biologique de Roscoff/Tara Oceans 14. Coccolithophore Coronosphaera mediterranea HOL © M. Carmichael/CNRS/UPMC/Station Biologique de Roscoff/Tara Oceans 15. Crustacean copepod © C.Sardet, S.Bollet/Tara Oceans



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On 25 January 2010, Thierry Vandevelde, Delegate-General of the Veolia Environment Foundation and Sebastian Troeng, Vice-President of the Conservation International NGO, invited the Tara Oceans teams to present the project to the leading actors in American research at the Cosmos Club in Washington*.

Eric Karsenti (Tara’s scientific director), Michael Sieracki (scien-tific coordinator), Romain Troublé (operations director) and Ma-guy Bourbigot (Veolia’s head of mission to the Brittany Maritime Cluster) defended in great detail the value of a scientific expedition of this kind. It was indeed an important meeting given the histo-ric renown of this very exclusive club, which may be considered a source of encyclopedic knowledge and a platform for dissemi-nating opinion world-wide. The prestigious Cosmos Club was formed in 1878 and 10 years later contributed to the emergence of that most famous of magazines: the National Geographic. The mission of Tara Oceans is a worthy successor to the daring of the great explorers that have gone before and Tara’s representatives in Washington were able to convince their audience.*This meeting took place at the initiative of the President of the Washington Liaison Office LLC, Mr. Seymour Rotter, a member of the Cosmos Club for the last 11 years.

by eTienne Collomb*

With its financial contributions to fund the purchase of scientific equipment and the salary of an engineer in oceanography, Veolia is making a concrete contribution to improving our knowledge of the fundamental issues which will be the source of tomorrow’ services.

Eric Karsenti, the expedition’s scientific director, is adamant, “There are two major themes at the heart of the Tara Oceans Expedition: the first is that the marine biodiversity will be cha-racterized through imaging methods and molecular biology; the second concerns the development of new methods of monito-ring and modelling marine ecosystems.”

The importance of measurementsIf we are to protect our marine ecosystems we must first un-

derstand how they work. It is not only important to identify their inhabitants, we must also observe the relations between them. It is for this reason that Tara is fitted with the rosette and its CDT (Conductivity Temperature Depth) and UPV (Underwater Vi-deo Profiler) sensors because they provide the most interesting scientific measurement of the programme. Another instrument, the flow cytometer featuring automatic image recognition, quantifies and analyses the smallest organisms (viruses and bac-teria) living in any given water column. At every port visit, the collected samples are dispatched to a network of 15 laboratories throughout the world. In this way the Tara Oceans Expedition will be mobilizing some 100 researchers in various disciplines such as molecular biology and taxonomy. In short, if we unders-tand the things we are talking about, we can find the solutions.

Maguy Bourbigot, head of Veolia’s competitive cluster Mer Bretagne, explains, “The professions of the sea are not only in-dustrial, they also include those which provide us with detailed research and advice with which to help local authorities execute a programme of sustainable coastal development. They also al-low us to offer services to users of coastal waters, to provide key technologies for the competitive exploitation of marine resour-ces (energy and biology), and to develop and maintain our naval infrastructures.”

The right tools to describe the state of the environment With its expertise and research programmes devoted to environ-

mental issues, Veolia can call upon a team of researchers and engi-neers capable of taking up the challenge. Stellio Casa, head of R&D at Veolia (Environmental risks and impacts department) insists, “It is important we propose a new generation of indicators which com-

ply with the requirements of the new regulations.” In other words, we need to be able to count on some biological indicators which can tell us what the condition of the water is. By focusing on species in-habiting the marine environment, the Tara Oceans Expedition will allow us to improve our definition of what we call ‘the proper state

of the environment’ so that we can design a new series of indicators which will comply with our objectives, especially those related to the environmental impact of our activities. Maguy Bourbigot ex-plains further, “The latest environmental regulations introduce a si-gnificant change in terms of both space and concept. The area to be monitored is much larger, increasing from one nautical mile to 200 nautical miles from the coast. As for the concept, the aim is to en-sure the proper ecological state of the defined zones. By 2020 it will be compulsory for France, and other European maritime countries, to inventory and understand their ecosystems, characterize their condition, define indicators, and to restore the necessary systems.”

Fundamental research and innovation: The Poseidon Programme

Proposed by Colomban de Vargas, researcher at the Roscoff Biology Research Centre, the Poseidon Programme has been selected by France’s National Research Agency (ANR) and re-cently received the support of the competitiveness cluster Mer Bretagne. This innovating programme is devoted to protists, those unicellular organisms which have a nucleus and are ex-ceptionally diverse among the ocean plankton. Colomban De Vargas explains, “Over the last few hundreds of millions of years they have been responsible for the earth’s atmosphere because, with their relatively dense bodies, they have been transferring carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the bottom of the oceans where it lies in sediment which can be several hundred m thick. And the fact that they contain very large genomes (in effect, all the genes of an organism) means that some species have more genes than a human! Sequencing them will provide us with a huge gene pool which could be useful for health, food, energy and nanotechnology.”

During Tara’s send off on 5th September 2009, the mayor of Lorient Norbert Métairie publicly declared, “It is important that our sea professionals have access to fundamental information. If we know how to properly manage our resources, we will be able to ensure that our maritime industries continue to work and provide employment.” The recent publication of the 137 recommendations of the Grenelle environment talks on the sea in December 2009 is leading the way to a more global approach to managing maritime issues. However the concrete actions have as yet to be seen. The media exposure of the Tara Oceans Expedition should contribute, in its modest way, to turning these recommendations into reality.

* Journalist for the editorial agency K-minos / Communication agency Bords de Loir.

Tara Oceans: a source for innovation

The Veolia Environment Foundation gets involved with the Tara Oceans Expedition.

Encounter at the Cosmos Club

Radiolarian protist. © C.CarréProtists under the electron microscope. © Tara Oceans

Lowering the CTD-rosette. © F.Latreille/Fonds Tara

“If we understand the things we are talk-ing about, we can find the solutions.”



Gliders : the oceanographers’ robotsIn December 2009 Tara took part in a unique experiment.

Hervé Bourmaud, captain of Tara

Hervé Bourmaud in a storm. © S.Bollet/ Fonds Tara

by lisa garnier

They are called “planeurs” in French and gliders in English. And in fact, gliders are remote-controlled submarine robots which slip through the water like penguins and dolphins. Well, maybe not as gracefully and certainly, with much less speed. In the open sea off Cyprus, six gliders will be reconnoitering for the expedition Tara Oceans.

“This is the first time that we are combining the use of so many gliders with classic water sampling methods such as the ‘rosette’ employed on the Tara.” explains Fabrizio D’Ortenzio, a researcher at the Laboratoire Océanographique at Ville-franche-sur-Mer, France. The objectives are to determine the physical, chemical and biologi-cal structure of a marine eddy which scientists call a “gyre”.

A quasi-permanent gyre exists to the south of Cyprus. It measures about 60km and has a life span between 7-12 months. “Normally, gyres are observable for 2-3 months. But, south of Cyprus, Eratosthene, a sub-marine mountain, acts like a gyre trap. The mountain’s height, peaking at about 2000m from a sea bottom depth of 2750m, suggests a mecha-nical role in detaining whirlpool waters.” An oceanographic phenomenon ideally suited for those wanting to study it.

“A week before Tara leaves Athens, the six gliders were sent off in parallel from Cyprus towards the zone to be stu-died. Since they will be transmitting data in real time, we can construct a 3-D map of distinct physical, chemical and biolo-gical conditions of the water column. When Tara then arrives at the gyre zone, we will know where to take more precise measurements with the equipment on board.”

The gliders are fitted out with numerous captors and can dive up to 1000m in depth, altogether very practical as robo-tic oceanographers. Dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, depth, and phytoplanktonic fluorescence data is stored in me-mory and sent out via an antenna when the gliders surface. “This data is relayed by satellite,” explains Pierre Testor, an expert on the glider and CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire

d’Océanographie et du Climat in Paris, “and we can also send new instructions like changing a trajectory.”

One of the glider’s advantages is autonomy. Energy consumption is only 2 watts, roughly equivalent to two small lights on a christmas tree decoration, thus allowing a voyage of 2-3 months. “There is no propeller,” resumes Pierre Tes-tor. “They move vertically in the water by modifying their ballast volume. On the surface, the volume is reduced with a piston, which tends to cause sinking. After reaching a pre-determined depth, the piston is activated and ballast volume is increased, resulting in ascension towards the surface.” This is why the glider does not move quickly. It travels about 30km

per day and the trajectory fol-lows a saw-tooth pattern.

But why couple these robots with Tara’s sampling tech-niques? The gliders will be able to pinpoint the gyre’s position. Researchers at CNRS have been studying the gyre for seve-

ral years, part of an oceanographic campaign called BOUM1, but this time, the studies will go much further. We would like to know if the gyre represents a physical barrier to planktonic organisms. Is, for example, the gyre’s presence advantageous to a particular species in comparison to the surrounding pe-riphery? This region of the Mediterranean is less rich in nu-trients and planktonic species, and thus one supposes that the “eye” of the gyre may be particular. It may be more or less favorable to plankton growth. Often associated with water fluxes, gyres can possibly cause nutrient transfer up from the depths resulting in concomitant growth of especial fauna and flora at the surface. Tara’s panoply of instruments will be used to try to discern this growth.

“In the context of climate change, we want to know, if the ocean becomes desolated, can biologically small structures like gyres become tomorrow’s oases” explains Fabrizio D’Or-tenzio. “Phytoplankton adapt to grand physical and environ-mental changes just like our forests and plants do. Mountain ecosystems differ from those near the coast for example. We want to know how this gyre, a small marine structure, reacts to the dynamics of the ecosystem.”

Once this operation is finished, Fabrizio D’Ortenzio and Pierre Testor will deploy two gliders to the boundaries of the

gyre. Two months have been set aside to gather precise data on its’ structure and to determine whether or not the gyre’s internal waters mix with those of the exterior. This might be a world’s first! 1 CNRS-LOPB/COM, Marseille, France. The purpose of this campaign of research is to describe the biogeochemistry and the biological diversity of the Mediterranean Sea, and produce a detailed assessment of its biological production now and in the future.

This programme is the result of an international collaboration including many research groups and institu-tes from France, Cyprus, Italy and Belgium. 1) École nationale supérieure de Techniques Avancées2) Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche3) Laboratoire d’Océanographie et de Climatologie 4) Division Technologique5) Oceanography Centre of the University of Cyprus6) Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale7) Université Libre de Bruxelles 8) Stazione Zoologica di Napoli 9) Ambassade de France à Chypre

One of the glider’s advantages is autonomy : 2-3 months

by dino di méo

Captain of Tara during the polar expedition Tara Arctic from 2006 to 2008, this former fisherman from Yeu Island has found his ideal vessel: the Tara. And he has been with her ever since. In 2009 Hervé ran the refit of the boat in Lorient and prepared her for the Tara Oceans Expedition. This experienced seaman of 38 years old has a lockerful of extraordinary sea tales. “I’ll never forget when Tara got locked into the ice and then the floe broke up and we had to recover the instruments one by one so that the expedition could continue,” he recalls. “And then there was that 70 knot wind we encountered off the coast of Sardinia... the Mediterranean can be a surprisingly violent sea.” Hervé loves sailing the oceans because they provide him with so many fond memories. “It’s a very emotional thing to sail on a boat like this.” He runs this floating laboratory alternately with Olivier Marien.

6,500 miles run -- 4,700 samples collected -- 200 km of oceanographic cable lowered and raised for the sampling -- 35 sampling campaigns -- 50 scientists including 15 women have worked aboard -- 18 nationalities have passed through the Tara -- 4 deliveries of scientific samples (Barcelona, Nice, Dubrovnik, Djibouti) -- 2,000 km is the average distance a sample travels from Tara to the lab -- 120 hours of video footage -- 100 cubic m of freshwater made aboard -- 40 berthing manoeuvres -- 16 countries visited -- 3,300 students registered with the educational programme -- 1,200 children registered with Club Tara Junior -- 5,000 people watched Tara leave Lorient -- 944 coral samples were collected off Djibouti -- 27 coral sites were explored off Djibouti -- 1,100 motoring hours -- 335 articles about Tara Oceans in the French press and 68 abroad -- 201 minutes of the TV programme Thalassa have been devoted to the Tara Oceans Expedition.

The Tara oceans expedition from september 2009 to January 2010

The glider has a fixed pair of wings and a rudder (pre-programmable when at the surface). Of the interior components, the batteries, which can be moved forwards and backwards, cause the glider nose to slant downwards or upwards, respectively. © D.Sauveur/Fonds Tara

an early assessmentFor the oceanographer Pierre Testor the mission has been a

success. “We managed to sample the gyre and take an enormous number of measurements. The 4,000 vertical profiles made in and around the structure have given us a precise image of the environment.” His only regret involves one of the gliders which should have extended the duration of the mission but has not emitted any signal since 21st December 2009. Here’s wishing a longer life to the second one! LG

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