Campagne PIRATA-FR32 : le navire océanographique Thalassa au mouillage dans la baie de Jamestown, Sainte-Hélène - 20/03/2022 © Lucas Weppe - IRD
PIRATA: Valuable measurements around St Helena Island
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More than 28 days since the departure, and the tiredness can be read on all faces. The scientists of the PIRATA-FR32 campaign have not had a single minute to keep a logbook or to send us some “live” news…it doesn’t matter: the focus is on watches and measurements!
Nevertheless, let’s look back at a key moment of this campaign: measurements and a stopover on the island of Saint Helena (Great Britain). A rich moment of sharing between scientists and local actors around the scientific objectives and the activities carried out at sea.
As every year, in order to be allowed to cross the Exclusive Economic Zone of the island of Saint Helena during the PIRATA campaign, work permits were required. Fortunately, thanks to good cooperation with the local authorities, these were obtained without difficulty a few weeks before arrival in the zone. An essential element of the organisation, as it is there that the deployment of the 4 PIRATA meteorological buoys located along the 10°W longitude is programmed each year. Successful deployment once again for this FR-32 campaign!
Once completed, the oceanographic vessel THALASSA was able to continue its journey a little further south, towards the island of St Helena, to carry out a series of hydrological profiles and current measurements, before anchoring in Jamestown Bay – port and capital of St Helena.
This work, which could not be carried out the previous year due to vandalism, is valuable as it contributes to the Blue Belt programme: a collaborative platform to act together and put into practice innovative solutions for the adaptation of the fisheries and aquaculture sector to climate change and for the resilience of oceans and climate.
Initiated in March 2020, IRD’s collaboration with the St Helena Research Institute was reaffirmed this year. The local administrative and scientific authorities invited on board the ship Thalassa were able to learn more about the scientific objectives of the PIRATA programme and the various activities conducted during the campaign.
After 25 years, the preliminary results of PIRATA’s work are very promising. The different partners have therefore confirmed their wish to continue this collaboration, and probably to extend it in order to contribute to the Marine Protected Areas Management Plan and to the strengthening of the Maritime Alliance of the Blue-Belt initiative.
- More information on the Blue Belt programme: https://bluebeltinitiative.com/en/
- St Helena Research Institute: https://sthelenaresearch.edu.sh
That’s a wrap on PIRATA 2022
A collective human adventure, an exceptional amount of data collected and the beginnings of a science of the sea concerned with its environmental impact: this is how we can sum up the success of this 2022 edition of the 32nd PIRATA oceanographic campaign.
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PIRATA: Valuable measurements around St Helena Island
More than 28 days since the departure, and the tiredness can be read on all faces. The scientists of the PIRATA-FR32 campaign have not had a single minute to keep a logbook or to send us some "live" news...it doesn't matter: the focus is on watches and measurements!
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