Eco-conscious cruisers can live out their marine biologist dreams with Intrepid Travel’s first Citizen Science program in Antarctica, available on all departures aboard new expedition ship Ocean Endeavour, which makes her inaugural sailing in November 2022.
Travellers can get on board with a raft of programs, including observing cloud movements timed to NASA satellite flyovers, counting seabirds, measuring the clarity of seawater and abundance of phytoplankton and photographing whales for identification purposes.
The voluntary research and data collected through traveller participation on Intrepid’s Antarctica trips will assist with scientific studies by increasing the amount of information available to researchers.
In addition to the five programs offered on all Intrepid Antarctic sailings, there will also be two exclusive departures in partnership with WWF Australia where guests will be joined by scientists from WWF and the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC).
The 14-day WWF Journey to the Circle, departing 17 February 2023, and the 11-day WWF Giants of Antarctica, departing 1 March 2023, will host marine biologists researching great whales to better understand their ecology and migration corridors under a changing climate.
The Intrepid Foundation has committed an additional $150,000 to support the WWF initiative, which together with the research collected on board will help inform strategies to safeguard whale superhighways and their critical feeding grounds by establishing a network of Marine Protected Areas around the continent and along the Antarctica Peninsula.
The onboard experiences will be facilitated by three Citizen Science Coordinators, new roles that the world’s largest B Corp certified travel company has created to deliver and support actionable research through its Antarctic operations and lead responsible travel initiatives.
For more info, head to intrepidtravel.com/citizen-science-program