Sail on board Tara with GlobeSailor

GlobeSailor had the immense privilege of visiting Tara and meeting its crew. But, what about you? What does the Tara Foundation mean to you? Since 2003, Tara has been taking action and fighting for the environment. This legendary boat has become a platform of top-quality scientific research.

A legendary boat

It’s neither a fishing boat, nor a barge, nor the Titanic but a scientific schooner which serves the planet! It’s aluminium hull was designed to be able to sail in the polar regions. Contrary to steel that hardens and breaks in the cold, the material of this ship is able to resist the extreme pressures that sea ice exerts…

The vessel has a mast height of 27 m (suffice to say that it’s better not to be on lookout or to change the anchor light if you have vertigo), is 36 metres long, 10 metres wide and weighs 120 tonnes. It’s difficult to imagine these dimensions but as a general indicator, this would weigh the equivalent of 20 elephants!  The aim is to protect and raise awareness to all the generations about the fragility of the oceans. It’s not a racing boat, yet its scientific missions have taken it over the whole world. A legendary sailing boat made for extreme conditions, she has little by little become increasingly famous: leaving us pose the questions ‘why?’ and ‘how?’

Major expeditions

2006 – 2008
Artic drift carried out 113 years after that of Nansen in 1893

2009 – 2013
First global study of the planktonic ecosystem

2014
Study on the effects of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems

2016-2018
Study on the ability of the coral reefs to adapt

Since 2006, numerous researchers have been sailing the seas on board this schooner. Tara is therefore also an extraordinary human adventure. This boat has welcomed on board hundreds of people: scientists, sailors, cooks, and on board individuals lead lives that differ slightly from the norm. Living there 24/7, the numerous tasks at sea leave little time for distractions: few stop-offs and no internet connection nor television. In all honnesty, what would you do?

Plankton : the true lungs of the earth.

The last operation « Tara Pacific » collected more than 36 000 samples. After 2 and a half years of exploring coral reefs and measuring the effects of climate change and their capacity to adapt facing changing conditions, the scientific boat returned to its home port, Lorient La Base, at the end of October 2018.  The data collected from these expeditions should enable us to take a large step in our global understanding of the oceans and reefs.

From north to south and east to west, plankton, the first link in the oceanic food chain, were closely studied. Without them, marine life would not exist. They produce 2/3 of the oxygen in the planet! Yes, we’ve been lied to our whole lives! As surprising as it may seem, trees are not the only source of oxygen. Why do they not teach us that at school? It is not the gigantic forests that contribute the most to the renewal of oxygen in the air that we breathe, but rather these microscopic plant-like organisms.

And yet, at this moment in time, we hardly know anything about their ability to adapt to evolving environmental conditions. The study that Tara is carrying out is a real priority. It is urgent to raise environmental awareness and to bring issues concerning the ocean and the climate into the light. This will help us to better understand climate change and how to preserve coral biodiversity that has been decreasing in recent years.