From north to south, in different seasons, at all scales, the Tara Europa scientific expedition aims to analyze and understand all the functioning of the immense diversity of life on the European coasts.
The boat loaded with new analysis equipment, supported ashore by a mobile laboratory, leaves the port of Lorient this Sunday, April 2. 68,000 km of European coasts rich in life, strong in their economy, but also sensitive to the multiple pollutants that man dumps there… Complex ecosystems between land and sea that the schooner’s mission Taraand mobile laboratories of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) aim to decipher.
” The visible world is the tip of the iceberg »
” One of the goals is to be able to understand the impact of pollution, climate change, everything that man does to damage these regions, develops Edith Heard, director of EMBL. Then it is also unique because it is only today that we have the technologies to really look at ecosystems at all scales. Ten years ago, this project was not possible. »
Climatic readings, genetic and behavioral studies on fauna and flora, and thousands of components studied: pesticides, drug or hydrocarbon residues. The experiments are intended to be as broad as possible because there is still much to discover, explains oceanographer Colomban de Vargas, scientific director of the expedition on the Tara Foundation boat: “ We now know that most biodiversity is in fact invisible, and that all the visible world around us that has been studied by all the great naturalists is the tip of the iceberg, he points out. We don’t yet know the essentials of life, which is still quite substantial. »
A journey worthy of Darwin’s
For Edith Heard this trip promises to be as important as that of Charles Darwin on his boat, the Beagle, between 1831 and 1836, which enabled the illustrious naturalist to develop the theory of evolution. “ I hope that we will discover organizations or communities that we did not even suspect, she enthuses. For me, it’s really a journey of discovery that will give us a new vision of life on earth. It also really means understanding which ecosystems are the most precious and which are most at risk because, when you lose an ecosystem, it is very difficult to find it. So, for us, it is very important to capture the ecosystems that are still whole and rich, and to be able to measure which organisms are really the most important to protect these ecosystems. We can therefore not only allow the planet to be in good health, but man to continue to exploit it as we want and know how to do. It’s ambitious, but I think it’s extremely realistic. We all hope to be new Darwins. »
With this new knowledge, researchers aim to revolutionize scientific knowledge of European coastlines. The Tara Europa mission is due to end in mid-2024.