Pacific Rally sailors collect ocean data for climate change study

Sailors and Citizens of the Sea crew meet at Opua to prepare for the Pacific Rally and learn how to collect valuable data along the way. Photo / Dean Whitehead

Sailors involved in collecting valuable data to help understand ocean health and climate change impacts were in Northland for the launch of a Pacific Rally event.

About 25 seafarers met at Ōpua on May 2 to prepare for their sailing adventure to the remote islands of the southwest Pacific.

Along the way, they will gather precious scientific data for a Citizens of the Sea initiative with a device called TorpeDNA.

The torpedo-like device is towed behind their yachts and filters seawater in real time, capturing environmental DNA (eDNA) left behind by marine life.

Citizens of the Sea chief scientist Xavier Pochon called the initiative wonderful.

“It allows us to understand the health and function of the world’s biggest ocean and the impact of climate change,” he said.

“It’s bringing everyday people with us on this journey and allows us to collect samples at scale that was impossible before.”

Citizens of the Sea is a not-for-profit charitable trust formed through a partnership between Cawthron Institute and New Zealand Geographic.

It aims to empower citizen scientists to collect ocean data at scale and at a fraction of the cost of traditional research vessels.

Citizens of the Sea chief scientist Xavier Pochon said the data collection project will help scientists understand the health and function of the Pacific Ocean. Photo / Dean Whitehead

A new collaboration between Minderoo Foundation and Citizens of the Sea was also unveiled.

Minderoo is a philanthropic organisation that seeks to uplift communities, support gender equality, protect natural ecosystems and respond to emerging threats and challenges.

Pochon said Minderoo’s support “enables us to push the boundaries of what’s possible in ocean data collection”.

“We are demonstrating that citizen-led science can generate high-quality ocean health data, much faster and at a fraction of the cost.”

It’s the second year of the data collection project.

During last year’s Pacific Rally, 26 participating vessels collected over 800 eDNA samples, along with environmental data, across 1.5 million square km of ocean.

Pochon said gathering data was important to understand the impact of climate change on biodiversity.

Sailors David, Beth and Landon Mortell with their TorpeDNA, which will capture environmental DNA left behind by marine life. Photo / Dean Whitehead

He hoped the data would also help detect problematic organisms like pathogens and harmful algae blooms, and where endangered species were going and how to protect them.

“We’ve seen a massive impact of changing temperatures over the last four years everywhere, to the point where we’re really unsure what the real impact is on marine biomes.

“Being able to capture biodiversity data at a large scale – it’s a game changer for scientists.”

The technology will enable the collection of more than 500 samples during the 2025 Pacific Rally.

Once collected, the data will be shared with global scientific communities and government NGOs via Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), an international organisation that makes scientific data on biodiversity available via the internet using web services.

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and animal welfare issues.