Scientists scour global waters testing ocean plankton and pollution

Tara left Lorient, France, in December 2020 for a 70,000-kilometre journey

Tara left Lorient, France, in December 2020 for a 70,000-kilometre journey

After a near two-year "Microbiome" mission around the world, scientists said on Saturday they had gathered thousands of samples of marine micro-organisms in a bid to better understand ocean plankton and pollution.

The survey was carried out from the 33-year-old Tara research schooner, which returned to her home port of Lorient on France's western coast at the weekend.

"All this data will be analysed," Tara Ocean Foundation director Romain Trouble told a press conference.

At the base of the food chain, micro-organisms were the "invisible people of the sea", accounting for two-thirds of marine biomass, said Trouble.

Trouble said the mission sought to find out how it all works.

"And how will that change tomorrow with climate change and pollution?"

They wanted to test a theory that deforestation and the spread of agriculture has increased nitrate fertiliser discharge, leading to an abundance of toxic algae along river banks and coasts, particularly in the Caribbean.

The mission was Tara's 12th global journey and involved 42 research institutions around the world.

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Originally published as Scientists scour global waters testing ocean plankton and pollution