Posted: 16 July 2012
Tara Oceans expedition schooner visits Dublin
The Tara, a thirty-six metre schooner which sailed across the world’s oceans for two and a half years to conduct the first ever global study of marine plankton visited Ireland to mark Dublin 2012 City of Science and Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF).
Eric Karsenti, the co-director of Tara Oceans, presented the first results of the expedition to scientists at the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF).
The public were invited to visit and board the schooner on 11 and 12 July 2012 while it was docked at the East Pier, Dún Laoghaire.
Image courtesy of Dr Emmanuel G Reynaud/Tara Oceans Expedition/Luis Gutierrez-Heredia
“During the Tara Oceans Expedition, we collected over 27,000 samples of plankton from across the world’s oceans to measure the effects of climate change on this oxygen-producing species of sea life,” says Dr Emmanuel Reynaud a University College Dublin cell biologist and member of the international scientific team.
50% of all CO2 is absorbed by planktonic organisms, so studying plankton is like taking the pulse of our planet.
An exhibition associated with the Tara expedition is on view in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland Dún Laoghaire, until the end of August.(Produced by UCD University Relations)
