Constat
Warning sign of global warming
This part of the planet on the edge of the North Pole is warming three times faster than other parts of the world. The sea ice, a fine layer of salty ice is gradually disappearing. It is melting so fast that we are undoubtedly the last generation to still have a chance of protecting it or of knowing the unique marine biodiversity which depends upon it.
- 70 % of the volume of sea ice has disappeared in 40 years
- 4 000 m deep
- 6 months of polar night per year
- 10 km per day drift of sea ice
© Fondation Tara Océan
Our expeditions
Tara Arctic
Archived
On the edge of the Arctic, Tara the most northerly sailing ship ever
In 2006, the young team from Tara and the CNRS embarked on an extraordinary human and scientific adventure: to cross the Arctic Ocean drifting with the sea ice for 18 months in the wake of the Fram, and carrying out scientific research into climate change with the European Commission.
Tara Oceans
Analyses in progress
First sailing ship to sail round the Arctic Ocean in one season.
For the first time in history, Tara and the researchers from the Tara Océans expedition were able to observe the biodiversity of the plankton in the Russian and Canadian Arctic, and to compare it to other oceanic ecosystems. It is unique, endemic to the Arctic and invaluable to humanity.
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9 months of expedition to complete the voyage in 2013
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100 %of species still endemic up to now
Chris Bowler, scientific co-director of the Arctic expedition:
This ocean is home to a singular planktonic ecosystem unlike any other, not even that of the Southern Antarctic Ocean. The icy conditions and long intense nights at these latitudes are at the origin of a diversity of species unlike any other. It is full of adaptation mechanisms, evolutions and genes which are, of course, unknown and that we are about to alter forever.
Culture point
The Arctic is one of the last remaining big natural protected spaces on the planet, a fragile ecosystem which is home to a biodiversity as rich as it is unknown.
Mais encore …
Voyage au cœur de banquise
Living on the ice
©Grant Redvers
Sunset
Tara imprisoned in the sea ice
© Grant Redvers
Sunrise
©Timo Palo
Crew
©Timo Palo
Ice
© Grant Redvers
©Timo Palo
©Timo Palo
Life on the sea ice
©Timo Palo
Our scientific publications
Actualités
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L’actualité de la Fondation Tara Océan
Culture Ocean
Immerse yourself in our expeditions
Trapped in the ice
Discover the account of Marion Lauters, student and quartermaster on Tara during Arctic drift..
Polar night, southern summer Notebooks from the poles
Tara, 500 days of Arctic drift
Global warming – Tara’s Arctic mission
Learning more about biodiversity to help better protect it
Discover our commitments and climate research
