青幻舎 SEIGENSHA Art Publishing

Like the great exploratory vessels of old, the scientific schooner Tara voyages the world’s seas in search of discovery. Its crew numbers from fourteen to sixteen per mission, including sailors, scientists, researchers, engineers, technicians, and one journalist and one artist. Joining forces with MIT, NASA, and other first-class research entities around the globe, it has sailed 580,000 kilometers, discovered more than 100,000 species of microalgae, identified 150 million new genes, surveyed the amount of microplastics in Europe’s rivers, and otherwise worked to slowly and steadily uncover heretofore unknown knowledge about the marine ecosystem and the state of the environment.

This volume looks back on the details and achievements of twenty years’ worth of expeditions by Tara, documenting the dedication behind its endeavors and eloquently testifying to the beauty, import, and workings of the nature of our planet.

Journalist Sylvie Rouat has been on the staff of the popular-science magazine Sciences et avenir (Science and the Future) for more than thirty years. Currently a correspondent specializing in space, the oceans, and the polar regions, she has covered the voyages of the scientific schooner Tara since 2006 including through direct participation in two missions.

Stéphane Dugast has traveled to all latitudes of the Earth in his work as an author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is strongly drawn to unspoiled wildernesses, particularly of the polar regions. He contributes to Le Figaro magazine, Géo, and Historia among other periodicals and has coauthored a biography of the ethnologist and explorer Paul-Émile Victor.