Tara Oceans

Edito

Tara has left in Muscat and on her way to Mumbaï.

Click here (bottom of the page) to find the new Journal Tara Oceans (N°6).

journal de bord

09/03/2010

Stopover in Abu Dhabi, heading towards Muscat
 
Anchored at dock n°35,  Tara seems quite small, stranded as she is in the commercial port of Abu Dhabi,  a peculiar city on the edge of the desert. We are surrounded by buildings competing in height, and appear to be in perpetual construction. In front of us, a brand new platform supply vessel destined to oil exploration is getting ready to head back to sea.
Today, after custom formalities, we'll be heading to Muscat, in the sultanate of Oman. On our way, we'll bid goodbye to the Persian Gulf, where over 30% of the trade between these countries -the richest of the world, due to their oil resources- takes place.
 
We’ll be passing through the Ormuz strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Oman sea.
With its 63km length and 40km width, this strait is of the utmost strategic importance. Since the agreement reached on January 1st 1975, free transit is placed under the joint supervision of Iran and Oman. In reality though, the totality of the traffic is in the Omani part of the strait, where the deepest parts and traffic separation devices are found.
 
This stopover in the country of black gold will have given us the opportunity to set up new sampling equipment, such as the Multinet which will allow us to collect, thanks to its nets,  deep water organisms. We’ve also set up a bar code system which will make sample labeling much easier and better organized.
 
After crossing the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, we are now about to enter the realm of great oceans for the first time, and become acquainted with their distinct oceanographic characteristics, which are our basic objects of study. The sailors onboard are looking forward to being back in the deep open sea, with its mighty swells...
 
The samples which will be collected in these areas are of great interest to the Tara Oceans project: we’ll be able to compare our results with those obtained with samples from the Indian Ocean. We aim to focus on the Muscat gyre and on a zone located in the continental plateau by the Ormuz strait.
 
This area is subject to extraordinary occurrences known as “blooms”. Blooms are directly linked to planktonic life: Microscopic algae flourish and light the surface water, which gives the impression of sailing on an ocean of fluorescent green light.
 
We were able to spot several blooms on our way to Abu Dhabi, along the Omani coasts. For miles and miles, it looked as though the water was lit by gigantic underwater spotlights. The image of Tara’s hull slicing through the water and the sight of thousands of colored, sparkling specks splashed in her wake is an impressive one, almost surreal.

Hervé Bourmaud, capitaine de Tara

La position actuelle de Tara

Téléchargez directement la carte actualisée :

Focus

Tara Oceans Exhibition at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
Follow the Tara Oceans expedition in real time!

The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is proud to host an educational
exhibit presented by Tara Expeditions. The exhibit, opening  on March 23rd
2010 and on display for a few months, will introduce the Tara Oceans
expedition and its goal, which is none other than improving scientific
knowledge about the micro-organisms populating the oceans of the globe - a
 marine life responsible for half of our planet's oxygen production.
 
The 120m2 display of the exhibition is divided into three parts, access to
which is free of charge:
 
Tara, a research vessel
Within Tara's bow -represented by a wooden structure, is a
visitor-operated video screen which will play films concerning life
onboard the ship. By steering the wheel, the visitor will make a selection
amid the various themes offered, among which can be found: a presentation
of the crew and scientists, the different stages of a sampling station,
portraits of certain plankton species identified during the expedition...
such are the themes of the videos produced by the CNRS/image or by
Thalassa, which this amusing manipulation will enable visitors to
discover.
 
The expedition, the journey, Tara in real-time
As for Tara's stern, it hosts an interactive map with which visitors will
follow the expedition's progress in real time. A screen equipped with a
tactile pad will enable visitors to discover  - or rediscover - the
crucial moments of the journey, as they look at photos, videos,
interviews, mini documentaries, etc.
 
Science on board
Scientific explanations will be displayed on a  4m vertical column meant
to represent the water column analyzed by Tara Oceans. Visitors will be
given the opportunity to find out more about the role oceans play in the
global climactic system, Tara's scientific study fields, various species
studied and their respective functions.

Practical informations :
Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie
30, avenue Corentin-Cariou - 75019 Paris.
Métro : Porte de la Villette / Cité des sciences
Ouvert du mardi au samedi de 10h à 18h, dimanche de
10h à 19h, fermé le lundi
Accès gratuit

Accompanying the exhibit, a lecture, Saturday, March 27th in the auditorium:
"The biodiversity of plankton and its impact on the global system".
Colomban de Vargas (CNRS, protist biodiversity), Chris Bowler (Ecole
Normale Superieure/CNRS) and Olivier Jaillon,  (Genoscope, genomics)

L'Equipe

  • Eric Karsenti
  • Etienne Bourgois

  • Jérôme Bastion
  • Et aussi
  • Silvia Gonzalez-Acinas
  • Alain Giese
  • Hervé Bourmaud
  • Julien Girardot
  • Mathilde Ménard
  • Stefanie Kandels-Lewis
  • Emmanuel Reynaud
  • Guillaume Bracq
  • Fabrice Not
  • Jean Weissenbach
  • Christian Sardet
  • Daniel Cron
  • Gaby Gorsky
  • Colomban de Vargas
  • Chris Bowler
  • Francesca Benzoni
  • Philippe Clais
  • Romain Troublé
  • Éloïse Fontaine
  • Anne Ghuysen Watrin
  • Michael Pitiot
  • Myriam Thomas
  • Didier Velayoudon

Tara expeditions

revivez l'aventure

visitez notre boutique en ligne

Langue/Language

  • langue française
  • English language

Calendrier Evénements

27/03/2010

Conférence à la Cité des Sciences

27/03/2010

Conférence à la Cité des Sciences, Paris - Porte de la Vilette
Samedi 27 mars, à 15h:
Biodiversité du plancton et son impact sur la système Terre
avec : Colomban de Vargas, coordinateur scientifique Tara Oceans, CNRS, écologie et évolution du plancton. Chris Bowler, coordinateur scientifique Tara Oceans,
directeur de laboratoire de biologie à l’École normale supérieure
Olivier Jaillon, génomie, Génoscope.
Connexion avec Tara.

23/03/2010

Venez suivre l’expédition en temps réel à la Cité des sciences

23/03/2010

Come follow the Tara Oceans expedition in real time at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris

The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie is proud to host an educational
exhibit presented by Tara Expeditions. The exhibit, opening  on March 23rd
2010 and on display for a few months, will introduce the Tara Oceans
expedition and its goal, which is none other than improving scientific
knowledge about the micro-organisms populating the oceans of the globe - a
 marine life responsible for half of our planet's oxygen production.

The 120m2 display of the exhibition is divided into three parts, access to
which is free of charge:
- Tara, a research vessel
- The expedition, the journey, Tara in real-time
- Science on board

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie - 30, avenue Corentin-Cariou - 75019 Paris.
Métro : Porte de la Vilette / Cité des sciences
Ouvert du mardi au samedi de 10h à 18h, dimanche de 10h à 19h, fermé le lundi.

01/03/2010

A la manoeuvre

01/03/2010

ITW d'Hervé Bourmaud le capitaine de Tara pendant la manoeuvre pour quitter Abu Dhabi. Cliquez ici

24/02/2010

Parution du nouveau Journal Tara Oceans !

24/02/2010

Le nouveau Journal Tara Oceans est en ligne sur le lien suivant (en bas de la page) : Cliquez ici pour télécharger le Journal Tara Oceans N°6

09/02/2010

Le site Tara Junior est en ligne ! www.tarajunior.org

09/02/2010


Apprendre au rythme de l’expédition

Le site www.tarajunior.org s’adresse aux professeurs en mettant à leur disposition de nombreux supports pédagogiques (fiches pédagogiques, photos, vidéos, liens...) et en leur proposant la mise en place d’animations pour leurs classes.


Le Club Tara Junior pour les explorateurs en herbe

Le site s’adresse également directement aux enfants à travers le Club Tara Junior en leur proposant des newsletters, des expériences, des interviews, des jeux & concours interactifs.

www.tarajunior.org

01/02/2010

Tara Oceans, project of the International Year of Biodiversity

01/02/2010

The United Nations proclaimed 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity, and people all over the world are working to safeguard this irreplaceable natural wealth and reduce biodiversity loss.

Tara Oceans is a project of the International Year of Biodiversity

24/11/2009

Interview with Rainer Friedrich, World Courier

24/11/2009

Interview with Chris Bowler, scientific coordinator of Tara Oceans

24/11/2009

Interview de Chris Bowler, scientific coordinator of Tara Oceans

23/10/2009

ITW Chris Bowler

23/10/2009

02/10/2009

Oceans of Tomorrow

02/10/2009

Oceans of Tomorrow: the Tara Oceans Expedition and Star Projects in EU Marine Research" has been presented at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona on 2-3 October 2009.

01/09/2009

AFP, partner of Tara Oceans

01/09/2009

Agence France-Presse has decided to provide its support to the Tara-Oceans international scientific expedition.
"The issue here is universal and the adventure singular," states Pierre Louette, CEO of the agency in a press release. "It involves informing as many as possible of the general public increaingly more of what our oceans are suffering, and yet what makes them still so rich, and spread a message of environmental awareness," adds Mr. Louette.
"By contributing through its information distributed to the entire world in science and awareness, the Agency is faithful to its missions," he concludes.

06/07/2009

Tara becomes an Endowment Fund.

06/07/2009

For 5 years, Tara, headed by Etienne Bourgois and as lead partner agnès b., carries out expeditions in favour of the environment.
In May 2009, Tara has changed its statute and has become an Endowment Fund, structured without any profit-making aim.
 
The aim of the Tara Endowment Fund is to finance the French scientific research related on the impact of climatic warming change on ecosystems, to promote awareness to the general public on environmental issues and to make known the scientific data for educational purposes.