A team of 16 French and Tunisian scientists will board the ANTEA, an ocean-going vessel in the French Oceanographic Fleet operated by Ifremer, from 13 April to 14 May 2019. The aim of this 30-day trans-Mediterranean campaign is to study the state of health of marine ecosystems, particularly the first links in the pelagic food chain (planktonic organisms), in areas of ecological interest in the north and south of the Mediterranean.
It is organised by the French Oceanographic Fleet, the CNRS, the Institute of Research for Development (IRD-France), the Ministry of Agriculture, Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Tunisia, with the participation of French and Tunisian research institutes and laboratories: MIO (IRD/CNRS/AMU/Université de Toulon), Ifremer, INSTM, FSB, IRSN, LISA (CNRS/Universita Di Corsica), IMT-Lille-Douai, LSCE (CEA/CNRS/Université de Versailles/IPSL), CEREGE (IRD/AMU/CNRS/Collège de France).
Named MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE, the main aim of this campaign is to increase our knowledge of the accumulation and transfer of metallic and organic elements resulting from human activities within planktonic organisms - from bacteria to zooplankton - under the effect of atmospheric and continental forcing. Researchers will be examining, for example, the role of the structure and size of planktonic organisms in the accumulation and transfer of these elements, or the role of atmospheric deposition in the propagation of anthropogenic inputs to marine waters.
To answer these questions, the scientists, led by team leaders Marc Tedetti (IRD, UMR MIO) and Jacek Tronczynski (Ifremer), will be collecting water, plankton and atmospheric deposits on board the ANTEA over an area of more than 1,500 km between La Seyne-sur-Mer and Gabès. Major analytical equipment and sampling resources will be deployed to measure a wide variety of biological, physical and chemical parameters in the water, as well as in planktonic organisms. A real technical challenge awaits the teams as they carry out this work on board the ship, then in the French and Tunisian laboratories.
During its mission, the ANTEA vessel will be joined by the Tunisian oceanographic vessel Hannibal, chartered by the Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, to carry out joint manipulations and complete this scientific campaign.
In addition to research, training is an integral part of the campaign's objectives. The crew will include three Tunisian doctoral students and a post-doctoral fellow.
A Franco-Tunisian, multi-institutional and interdisciplinary consortium
Oceanographers, chemists, ecotoxicologists and biologists will make up the scientific team. The Franco-Tunisian consortium involved in this campaign reflects the culmination of several years of scientific cooperation as part of international programmes such as the MISTRALS meta-programme and its associated MERMex and ChArMEx projects, or with the COSYS-Med international joint laboratory, which brings together Tunisian and French laboratories to study southern Mediterranean ecosystems. This oceanographic campaign will complement the work undertaken in recent years on the southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean to provide a better understanding of the functioning of the Mediterranean marine environment.
Raising public awareness of global changes in the Mediterranean Sea
The vulnerability of the Mediterranean environment to global change needs no further demonstration. To raise public awareness of the fragility of this ecosystem, the scientists will be welcoming secondary school pupils on board the ANTEA vessel during the stopover in Tunis at the end of April. In addition, the general public will be able to follow the progress of the campaign thanks to an online logbook that will be updated by the crew.
This oceanographic campaign forms part of the agenda for the IRD's 75th anniversary celebrations in 2019, a year in which the Institute will be putting the spotlight more than ever on its rich partnerships and scientific excellence in the face of major development challenges in developing countries.
Contacts
IRD representation in Tunisia : maeva.maugeais@ird.fr / +216 50 742 857
IRD South-East Regional Delegation : marine.lejars@ird.fr / + 33 4 91 99 92 40
Ifremer : presse@ifremer.fr
Mediterranean Institute of Oceanology (MIO) : pascal.lesage@mio.osupytheas.fr