Even more than other regions of our planet, the Arctic today is undergoing significant climate change. Each year the ice pack melts to its minimum by September. In the past 30 years, both surface area and thickness of the permanent Arctic sea ice have decreased by 40%. With the pack ice melting, new maritime routes opening and the exploitation of oil and gas deposits, the Arctic region is increasingly subject to economic and environmental upheavals.
THE TARA OCEAN FOUNDATION: THE OCEAN IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The Tara Ocean Foundation has been working since 2003 to protect the environment and support scientific research. The schooner Tara has sailed all the oceans of the planet for the last 15 years. Sailors and scientists from many countries relay each other on board to study the largest ecosystem on the planet, the Ocean. In the first of four major scientific expeditions conducted to understand climate change and its impacts on the Ocean, Tara in 2006 achieved a real human and scientific feat: Locked in the ice, the boat drifted for 507 days in the heart of the Arctic pack ice. This first polar mission was named Tara Arctic.
TARA, THE WORLD'S BIGGEST POLAR SAILBOAT
A schooner designed for extreme conditions Length: 36 m. Width: 10 m. Weight: 120 tons 2 masts, each one 27 meters high Sails: total of 400 square meters Hull: 60 tons of aluminium up to 4.5 centimeters thick
A sailboat conceived for extreme conditions (2007-04) by Hervé Bourmaud / Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
At the beginning, a revolutionary vision
Tara was born of a dream: to create an ideal vessel for polar expeditions and thus perpetuate the tradition of great 19th century explorers.
The schooner's wide aluminium hull has rounded flanks designed to escape the phenomenal pressures exerted by pack ice. When plaques of ice close in, they slide under the hull, lifting it up instead of crushing it.
Etienne Bourgois and the schooner Tara (2007-09) by Francis Latreille - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
A unique human experience
“If there weren't a few people crazy enough to go, we'd never have succeeded.
Today, our team includes people specialized in extreme conditions, but at the time (in 2006) they were true adventurers”, says Etienne Bourgois, founder of the Tara project.
AT THE HEART OF THE TARA ARCTIC EXPEDITION
On September 4, 2006, Tara had a rendez-vous with the Kapitan Dranitsyn -- a Russian icebreaker capable of opening a path through the increasingly compact ice. The Kapitan Dranitsyn helped Tara locate an ice floe wide and solid enough for the schooner to position herself and set up a research camp. The crew then unloaded the heavy scientific material transported by the icebreaker on Tara's behalf.
The trajectory of Tara's Arctic driftTara Ocean Foundation
In the wake of the explorer Fridtjof Nansen
Before Tara, only one sailboat – the Fram in 1893 – had ever dared to confront the extreme conditions of the Arctic. A hundred years later, Tara accomplished a contemporary version of the Fram expedition, spotlighting the spectacular aspect of this unique scientific adventure and revealing current environmental upheavals.
507 days of drifting with the ice pack, including 260 days in total darkness
Tara locked herself in the ice pack on September 3, 2006
The schooner emerged from the ice on January 21, 2008
20 crew members relayed each other aboard
Tara and the Taranauts (2006-09) by François Bernard - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
With the crew: the Taranauts
Throughout the Arctic drift, 20 Taranauts and 2 dogs learned to live on the ice floe: Sailor, pilot, medical doctor, scientists with various specialties, mountain guide, journalist, photographer, cameraman, artist – Men and women of many nationalities, all committed to observing, informing, raising awareness.
Tara, advanced sentinel of the Arctic (2006-09) by François Bernard - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Tara: Arctic sentinel
The schooner positioned herself on an ice floe measuring 2 by 3 kilometers, with thickness of ice ranging from 0.80cm to 1 meter. Installation was facilitated by the permanent daylight of Arctic summer.
Researchers of extreme cold (2007-09) by Francis Latreille - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Men in the cold
The coldest temperature was - 41° C. No question of touching a piece of metal with your bare hands, at the risk of leaving your skin behind.
260 days of polar night (2007-12) by Audun TholfsenTara Ocean Foundation
The very long night
The last ray of sun was seen by the crew on October 18, 2006. The sun passed the horizon again at the beginning of March 2007!
260 days in the polar night
Ice (2007-01) by D. Bourget - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
A refuge
Tara endured snow storms and the movements of ice called “compression ridges” that forced the boat to lean over, at the risk of breaking apart.
Daily life aboard (2007-09) by Francis Latreille - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Voluntary confinement
In extremely close quarters, the Taranauts found various ways to relax.
The people closest to the Taranauts during their Arctic drift were the crew members of the space station that passed in orbit every 91 minutes.
Polar ice cap (2006-12) by Grant Redvers - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Bears – Kings of the ice pack (2007-03) by Bruno Vienne - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
The Taranauts were visited 18 times by bears. Some came very close to the boat, threatening equipment, crew and dogs. Zagrey and Tiksi, the 2 faithful huskies got injuries requiring stitches.
Tara: platform of the Damocles scientific program
Tara is the main research vessel for the Damocles program, the European Union's pilot project for the International Polar Year. The project aims to observe, understand and quantify climate change in the Arctic to help make informed decisions about global warming. For scientists eager for information about the poles, the schooner Tara provides an incomparable research platform.
Polar ice in April (2007-04) by François Bernard - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Researchers of the great cold
Flat, fragmented, melting -- sea ice is never uniform and changes every day.
Certain manipulations last for hours and can be extremely difficult at such icy temperatures.
Studying the atmosphere of the Arctic (2007-04) by François Bernard - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Research balloon
This balloon inflated with helium was sent up to an altitude of 2,000 meters to study the lower atmosphere. A series of sensors attached to the rope recorded data.
Tara Arctic polar station (2007-04) by François Bernard - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Tara Arctic polar station
During Tara's 15-month drift, researchers made many observations and surveys of the atmosphere, up to an altitude of 1,500 meters, and beneath the Arctic ice to a depth of more than 4,000 meters. Temperature of air and water, pressure, salinity, intensity of winds, the pack ice was closely studied to evaluate its evolution in real time. After this data was recorded aboard Tara, it was regularly transmitted by satellite to researchers on land.
Fragility of the poles by Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
WORRISOME NEWS FOR THE PLANET
The Tara Arctic expedition succeeded in demonstrating the fragility of the poles and the increasing ice melt. 21 scientific publications established 3 major findings about the Arctic ice pack.
Ice is melting faster and faster
Tara's Arctic drift -- from the Laptev Sea to Fram Strait -- lasted 507 days (from September 2006 to January 2008). This contrasts with the situation in 1893, when it took the Norwegian ship Fram more than a thousand days (3 years) to drift the same distance.
Surface area of ice pack is decreasing in summer.
There has never been so little sea ice as in the summer of 2012. Since the previous record of ice melt (in September 2007), the surface area of pack ice decreased by 20% in September 2012.
Thickness of the Arctic ice pack is decreasing
In the 1970s, the average thickness of pack ice was more than 3 meters. In the mid-90s, it measured less than 2 meters on average. Today it's only about 1 meter thick.
FREED FROM THE ICE
On January 22, 2008, Tara arrived in the Longyearbyen Fjord in Spitsbergen, Norway. Following an old sailing tradition, the 10 crew members lighted their distress flares.
Major environmental challenges in the Arctic (2007-04) by François Bernard - Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
Mission impossible accomplished!
Starting with a very difficult installation on the ice pack (in 2006) until their triumphant emergence after 507 days of drifting with the ice floe, the TARA team took on an incredible challenge.
This journey to the heart of the climate system represents the backbone of the Tara Ocean Foundation's mission, and legitimized the schooner's role as a fantastic environmental observatory.
Tara, ambassador for the oceans (2006-06) by Francis Latraille / Tara Expeditions FoundationTara Ocean Foundation
EXPLORE TO UNDERSTAND
SHARE FOR A CHANGE
To move forward, we need the help of everyone because the Tara Ocean Foundation remains independent. We operate thanks to the generosity of our donors, essential sponsors of our actions.
Every donation counts and allows our work to continue. To support the Tara Ocean Foundation:
donate.fondationtaraocean.org
HELP US TO ADVANCE RESEARCH AND PRESERVE THE OCEAN
The Tara Ocean Foundation thanks the photographers
François Bernard
Denys Bourget
Hervé Bourmaud
Francis Latreille
Audun Tholfsen
and the architects Mr. Luc Bouvet and Mr. Olivier Petit (Tara's plan)
