Tara Oceans
(TARA OCEANS POLAR CIRCLE)
08/30/2011
Route forecast for the third year of the Tara Oceans Expedition © be-pôles
log book - Tara Oceans: A 3rd year in the Northern Hemisphere!
Tara Oceans: A 3rd year in the Northern Hemisphere!
It’s already been 2 years since the Tara schooner set sail over all of the world’s oceans. September 5, 2011 will mark the beginning of Tara Oceans 3rd expedition year. This 3rd act will take place in the Northern Hemisphere.
The program: Tara will cross Hawaiian waters, explore the North Pacific “Plastic Continent”, head towards San Diego, and pass through the Panama Canal before reaching New York. In 2012, Tara will cross the Atlantic in the spring before rejoining its naval base at Lorient.
This summer, the schooner spent 2 months in French Polynesia. At Papeete, the mission’s “treasures” were sent to different laboratories. Tara’s treasures? These are the meticulously gathered samples stored in the freezers during the expedition. These samples contain the hidden, tiny, and abundant life about which the vast majority is still unknown: plankton. This “melting pot” of viruses, bacteria, protists and all kinds of tiny animals has never been studied so systematically. Planktonic ecosystems have never been sampled on this planetary scale.
It’s not common knowledge that the oceans’ plankton provides over 50% of the oxygen we breathe and sequesters a large part of the carbon we produce. Plankton has a major impact on the earth’s climate. It is 98% of the marine biomass, and is also the base of the food chains.
Tara is now sailing towards Hawaii, then onward to the North Pacific “Plastic Continent”. The “Plastic Continent”? It’s a calm zone in the Pacific Ocean where marine currents meet, carrying floating trash which accumulates in layers. This sea of rubble, only visible from boat decks, was discovered in 1997 by Captain Charles Moore. It took him almost a week to cross it -- he was amazed to have found it in this infrequently travelled part of the globe.
After stopping over at San Diego, Tara will take the famous Panama Canal and then cross the Atlantic arriving as planned at Lorient in the spring of 2012.
Without doubt, the longest leg has already begun for the Tara Oceans scientists. The expedition is churning out an avalanche of data which will take more than 10 years to completely analyze. The goals are ambitious: understand the functioning and diversity of marine life and predict the response of marine ecosystems to climate changes. For all of these experts, Tara Oceans is a long-term project. “We must provide all the support necessary to let this project succeed and flourish scientifically in the years to come,” emphasizes Jean Weissenbach, Genoscope’s Director (Sequencing Center). The first results look promising, and will be published soon, after the time it takes to rigorously verify the analyses.
Source: Flash Tara #4. Gaëlle Lahoreau.
It’s already been 2 years since the Tara schooner set sail over all of the world’s oceans. September 5, 2011 will mark the beginning of Tara Oceans 3rd expedition year. This 3rd act will take place in the Northern Hemisphere.
The program: Tara will cross Hawaiian waters, explore the North Pacific “Plastic Continent”, head towards San Diego, and pass through the Panama Canal before reaching New York. In 2012, Tara will cross the Atlantic in the spring before rejoining its naval base at Lorient.
This summer, the schooner spent 2 months in French Polynesia. At Papeete, the mission’s “treasures” were sent to different laboratories. Tara’s treasures? These are the meticulously gathered samples stored in the freezers during the expedition. These samples contain the hidden, tiny, and abundant life about which the vast majority is still unknown: plankton. This “melting pot” of viruses, bacteria, protists and all kinds of tiny animals has never been studied so systematically. Planktonic ecosystems have never been sampled on this planetary scale.
It’s not common knowledge that the oceans’ plankton provides over 50% of the oxygen we breathe and sequesters a large part of the carbon we produce. Plankton has a major impact on the earth’s climate. It is 98% of the marine biomass, and is also the base of the food chains.
Tara is now sailing towards Hawaii, then onward to the North Pacific “Plastic Continent”. The “Plastic Continent”? It’s a calm zone in the Pacific Ocean where marine currents meet, carrying floating trash which accumulates in layers. This sea of rubble, only visible from boat decks, was discovered in 1997 by Captain Charles Moore. It took him almost a week to cross it -- he was amazed to have found it in this infrequently travelled part of the globe.
After stopping over at San Diego, Tara will take the famous Panama Canal and then cross the Atlantic arriving as planned at Lorient in the spring of 2012.
Without doubt, the longest leg has already begun for the Tara Oceans scientists. The expedition is churning out an avalanche of data which will take more than 10 years to completely analyze. The goals are ambitious: understand the functioning and diversity of marine life and predict the response of marine ecosystems to climate changes. For all of these experts, Tara Oceans is a long-term project. “We must provide all the support necessary to let this project succeed and flourish scientifically in the years to come,” emphasizes Jean Weissenbach, Genoscope’s Director (Sequencing Center). The first results look promising, and will be published soon, after the time it takes to rigorously verify the analyses.
Source: Flash Tara #4. Gaëlle Lahoreau.
Tara Oceans
Menu
- HOME
- ABOUT US
- EXPEDITIONS
- COMMITMENT
- SCIENCES
- ARTISTS
- TARA JUNIOR
- CALENDAR
- LOG BOOK
- PHOTOS / VIDEOS
- EDITION
- OUR NEWSPAPERS
- Tara Oceans, Chroniques d’une expédition scientifique
- Journal d'une scientifique (in French only)
- Nuit Polaire, Eté Austral – Carnets des Pôles
- Tara, un voilier pour la planète (in French only)
- Tara 500 jours de dérive arctique (in French only)
- JOURNAL DE BORD DE LA DERIVE ARCTIQUE (in French only)
- Tara Arctic: A New Zealander's Epic Voyage
- MOVIES
- SUPPORT TARA
browse our online shop
see also
Newsworthy
06/13/2013
Stopovers of the Tara Oceans Polar Circle expedition
06/13/2013
- Tromsö (Norway); From June 13 until June 21
- Murmansk (Russia) From June 24 until June 29
- Doudinka (Russia) From July 26 until August 1st
- Franz Joseph (Russia) From August 7th until August 9th
- Pevek (Russia) From August 30th until September 3rd
- Tuktoyaktuk (Canada) From September 18th until 21th September
- Resolute (Canada) From October 1st until October 5th
- Ilulissat (Canada) From October 15th until October 20th
- Québec (Canada) From November 10th until November 16th
- St Pierre-et-Miquelon From November 20th until November 24th
- Lorient From December 6th
05/19/2013
Follow Tara in live
05/19/2013
05/18/2013
Exhibition - Tara Expeditions discovery of a new world : the Ocean
05/18/2013
Discover the exhibition "Tara Expeditions discovery of a new world : the Ocean", on the Eric Tabarly Cité de la Voile Esplanade In Lorient, France.
Free entry on May 18th and 19th for Taras departure.
Exhibiton until Septembre 29th 2013.
Free entry on May 18th and 19th for Taras departure.
Exhibiton until Septembre 29th 2013.
05/13/2013
Taras' new flash
05/13/2013
To learn more about Taras new expedition in the Arctic, click here to read Taras' flash journal.
04/25/2013
Explore Google Ocean with Tara
04/25/2013
Write "Tara" on the research of Sylviaearlealliance's website
or click bellow
04/11/2013
PARIS APPEAL FOR THE HIGH SEAS
04/11/2013
Discover and sign Paris Appeal for the High Seas !
02/12/2013
Tara in Nowness by Spencer Lowell
02/12/2013
09/10/2012
Tara Expeditions Blogs
09/10/2012
06/21/2012
Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations speaks to Tara at Rio +20
06/21/2012
Part of the speach :
"Earlier this year, I had the chance to board the Tara Expeditions when it docked in New York.
The crew was really inspiring. They shared so much information with me about oceans and climate change. I am really grateful that they are raising awareness around the world … and I am very proud that the United Nations is supporting them.
As I stood on the Tara that day in February, I stood on the deck and looked out at downtown Manhattan. We were surrounded by skyscrapers but we had a window on the deep blue sea. It was a reminder that our worlds are connected.
I promised the crew that I would continue working with dedication for the planet’s oceans.
Now, Rio has to put more wind in our sails, so we can navigate the waves to a better future.
Let us advance for our oceans and our world."
Rio de Janeiro, 21 June 2012
"Earlier this year, I had the chance to board the Tara Expeditions when it docked in New York.
The crew was really inspiring. They shared so much information with me about oceans and climate change. I am really grateful that they are raising awareness around the world … and I am very proud that the United Nations is supporting them.
As I stood on the Tara that day in February, I stood on the deck and looked out at downtown Manhattan. We were surrounded by skyscrapers but we had a window on the deep blue sea. It was a reminder that our worlds are connected.
I promised the crew that I would continue working with dedication for the planet’s oceans.
Now, Rio has to put more wind in our sails, so we can navigate the waves to a better future.
Let us advance for our oceans and our world."
Rio de Janeiro, 21 June 2012