a day aboard the scientific sailboat Tara

The scientific sailboat Tara continues its mission on the European coasts. The crew left Lorient in early April for a two-year trip around Europe to collect water along the coast. Objective: to study biodiversity, marine ecosystems and understand the impact of human activities.

After a month of sailing, the schooner is currently in the North Sea. franceinfo followed her between Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Brehmeraven in Germany, where the sailboat arrived on Friday May 5.

The departure of the boat is at night, at 1 am. After a four-day stopover, Tara leaves the port of Amsterdam. “We go along the coast to Germanyexplains Martin, the captain, We have 24 hours of navigation before the next sampling station in Spiekeroog, Germany.” On board the schooner, there are 14 people: sailors and a team of scientists led by Morgane Guillam, responsible for sampling. “The samples are taken, are put on filters for the most part and then kept on the boatshe explains.

“We can discover new species, understand the interactions between them and how they can communicate, especially molecules. This will allow us to study a wide variety of organisms of different sizes.”

Morgane Guillam, sampling manager on the Tara

at franceinfo

After a day and a night of navigation, the schooner arrives at its destination. The anchor is dropped 200 meters from a beach. This is where the Tara scientists will take their samples, using several instruments including the famous rosette. “It is a multi-parameter instrument which, thanks to a set of sensors, will measure different parameters of seawater : temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidityexplains Martin, We also have bottles that allow you to sample water at different depths.”

On the aft deck, lifejackets and anorak on their shoulders, pipettes and flasks in hand, young scientists like Anais are busy. “In these tubes, we have previously placed certain components that will allow the preservation and fixation of the samples”, she indicates. The work is tedious but once the microscope is connected, the scientists grouped around the instrument have their reward. “Look at that little flagellum there! That means it’s a single-celled organism”enthuses Anaïs.

At the next stopover, these thousands of bottles will be sent to the mainland, to the laboratory. These valuable data will be used to analyze European marine biodiversity. The arrival of the schooner is scheduled for November in Lyon. And the second part of the mission will take place in the Mediterranean Sea in 2024.