Floating Arctic Research Station 'Tara' Departs France for Two-Year Scientific Mission

A floating research station designed to drift with Arctic sea ice has left France to begin a major scientific mission that will study the rapidly changing polar region over the next two years. The Tara polar station departed from the western French port of Lorient on Sunday. Hundreds of people gathered at the quayside to watch the launch. The unusual-looking station resembles a giant aluminium igloo resting on a large buoy. It has been specially designed to survive the pressure of shifting sea ice and temperatures as low as -52C. Instead of avoiding the ice, the station will allow itself to become trapped in it so it can drift naturally across the Arctic while scientists carry out research.

Drift across Arctic

The journey will begin in mid-August when the station heads east along the Russian coast. An icebreaker will clear a path through the sea ice before the station becomes trapped in the pack ice in early September. Once frozen into the ice, it is expected to drift at an average speed of about 10 kilometres a day. If all goes as planned, it will reach the Fram Strait, between Greenland and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, by the end of 2027. The expedition is the first of 10 planned missions that will take place every two years between 2026 and 2045.

A changing Arctic

Researchers say the Arctic is changing quickly because of climate change, but it remains one of the least studied regions in the world. "The Arctic is an ocean that has been little studied and is already changing significantly. It is undergoing a major transformation," said Romain Trouble, executive director of the Tara Ocean Foundation, as quoted by The Telegraph. "You cannot understand the environment if you only spend two months a year there," he added. By drifting with the sea ice through different seasons, scientists hope to collect continuous data that is not possible during short research trips.

International team on board

Although the station was built in France, the mission brings together around 30 research centres from 12 countries. These include Germany, Canada, Spain, the United States, Switzerland and Japan. The station will carry an international crew of 12 people during the Arctic winter, including six scientists. During summer, the crew size will increase to 18. Before being selected, crew members underwent medical and psychological tests as well as team-building exercises to prepare for living together in a confined space for long periods. "We weren't looking for adventurers who want to head to the North Pole alone. The idea is rather to have people who get along well to experience this confined human environment together," said expedition director Clementine Moulin.

Months of darkness

Life aboard the station will be demanding. During winter, the crew will face five months of complete darkness, extreme cold and isolation. They will also have to watch out for polar bears. "Bears are a serious matter," said Eric Pelletier, a 58-year-old genomics researcher who is part of the expedition. "It's not a simple thing; the bear is on its home turf and it's used to hunting and hides behind blocks of ice." To prepare for possible encounters, every crew member has received firearms training. A specially trained dog will also travel with the team to help detect bears approaching the station.

Samples to be collected

The floating laboratory has an opening in its hull that allows scientists to collect samples directly from the surrounding environment. Using this and other onboard instruments, researchers plan to gather more than 10,000 samples from seawater, sea ice and the atmosphere during the mission. The samples will help scientists study Arctic biodiversity and understand how climate change is affecting life in one of the planet's most extreme environments. Many living organisms found near the North Pole are specially adapted to survive in freezing conditions. Scientists warn that these ecosystems could disappear if the Arctic continues to warm. "There is biodiversity at the North Pole that is uniquely adapted to this environment. If the environment changes, that biodiversity might disappear," Trouble said. "We could potentially lose an entire chapter of the evolution of life on this planet without even having had time to document it," he warned. Researchers hope the information collected during the expedition will improve scientific understanding of the Arctic and help document changes taking place in one of the fastest-changing regions on Earth.