MARE is born, a citizen science project to find out how our seas are

Twelve weeks of navigation and a team of biologists and naturalists to find out how our seas are. Born from the initiative of the Caprera Sailing Center in collaboration with One Ocean Foundation, MARE (Marine Adventure for Research & Education), is a citizen science project that will collect data throughout the Tyrrhenian Sea, carrying out monitoring and measurements with the lowest environmental impact. possible. “We started from a simple idea – explains Paolo Bordogna, president of the Caprera Sailing Center -, to use the ecological propulsion system par excellence, the wind, for a scientific project that would put the health of the sea at the center of its study. And that he did it with the lowest possible impact. To reach the goal, we have combined our expertise in the seafaring art with the scientific-popular one of the One Ocean Foundation ”. The result is One, a 45-foot sailing catamaran, equipped as a small laboratory, which will sail throughout the Tyrrhenian Sea, touching 23 protected marine areas and 2 areas of interest, carrying out analyzes, measurements and monitoring. “We have focused our scientific protocol on some fundamental themes – explains Ginevra Boldrocchi, scientific coordinator of One Ocean Foundation -, such as the collection of samples of zooplanktonic organisms, natural bioindicators of environmental pollution, to evaluate the presence and bioaccumulation of persistent contaminants in the Tyrrhenian Sea, but also on the monitoring of marine biodiversity, through environmental DNA sampling. ”A complex and ambitious project, which required partners up to the challenge. “Yamamay, Polaroid, Sorgenia and Synergie – comments Bordogna – are realities with which we share a vision made up of precise values, which we wanted to put pen to paper in a project manifesto. We needed this kind of harmony because their involvement will be active, since it will be their guests who will help the scientific team in the various activities that will be carried out on board “. MARE will start from La Maddalena on 30 April with the patronage of the Italian Navy and with the involvement of the Ministry of Ecological Transition.