Oceanic Plankton Factories Unraveled by French Researchers: Secrets of the Marine Oxygen Producers Unveiled
In the heart of the Indo-Pacific region, the French Navy is embarking on a unique mission to transform its ships into floating scientific laboratories. Known as the Mission Bougainville, this project aims to enhance scientific research and environmental monitoring of plankton ecosystems within France's Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
The scope of this ambitious project includes using naval ships as mobile, advanced platforms equipped with scientific instruments to conduct plankton sampling and oceanographic research. The research efforts are focused within France’s EEZs scattered across the Indo-Pacific, aiming to cover diverse marine environments.
Each island serves as a natural lab for plankton research due to the unique conditions they offer. For instance, the Champlain, a ship typically used for patrolling against illegal fishing and drug trafficking, sailed to the Scattered Islands near Madagascar in June 2022, now carrying young scientists and plankton-sampling gear.
Recent graduates from the Sorbonne are serving as biodiversity cadets on these ships, working alongside the crew to collect and study plankton. The work is still in its early stages, and it will take years of sampling and analysis before the full picture becomes clear.
The project also has researchers aboard other Navy ships operating between French Polynesia and New Caledonia. Mission Bougainville builds on the work of organisations like the Tara Ocean Foundation by using the Navy's existing routes to access under-researched zones and collect data over time.
One of the key focuses of the mission is the "island effect" in the Indo-Pacific, where nutrients are scarce but land masses release material that acts like fertiliser, triggering blooms of phytoplankton. Plankton, though small and invisible to the naked eye, play a significant role in absorbing carbon dioxide, producing oxygen, and forming the base of the marine food chain.
Understanding the basic functional aspects of plankton is crucial before discussing their evolution or adaptation. Scientists are studying how plankton ecosystems move across the ocean, form, and change over time. Plankton don’t choose where they go; they drift with the currents.
The mission aims to gather around 100 samples per ship each year through to 2030, building a global database covering millions of square kilometres. Differences in plankton composition can affect the entire ecosystem, which in turn can impact economies and global geopolitics.
By linking military maritime capabilities with environmental science, Mission Bougainville enables extensive, systematic study of plankton populations. It supports France's commitment to marine biodiversity conservation, sustainable management of marine resources, and strengthening scientific presence in overseas territories in the Indo-Pacific.
The article was adapted from a French original by Titouan Allain.
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- The Mission Bougainville, presided by the French Navy, expands its reach to India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), aiming to incorporate international collaboration in environmental science and climate-change research.
- The project encompasses various aspects of plankton studies, including their role in absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, a critical element in the fight against climate-change.
- With the intention of enhancing the study of plankton ecosystems, Mission Bougainville incorporates the expertise of India's leading environmental-science institutions, broadening the scope of its global database.
- By integrating advanced technology into naval ships, Mission Bougainville offers a novel approach to monitoring plankton populations in diverse marine environments, paving the way for a more comprehensive understanding of their movement and change over time.
