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The ocean absorbs part of the excess CO in the
2
atmosphere, resulting in a noticeable impact,
such as rising sea levels. Have you documented ADOPT A FLOAT
less noticeable effects that have an impact on For the last 10 years, this educational programme created by the
ocean biology? Laboratory in Villefranche-sur-Mer has enabled French school
If the ocean is warmer, it moves around less, and the
deep waters come back to the surface less often. Yet classes, from the overseas departments and other countries
to grow, phytoplankton, which is the ocean’s prairie, to adopt an underwater robot, to monitor the data sent in
although definitely needing sunlight, also needs natural real time and to receive scientific support which raises their
fertilisers (nitrates) reinjected to the surface from the awareness of ocean issues. In 2022, 40 French classes adopted
deep layers of the ocean. Because of this, we believe an Argo floater.
that ocean warming will prevent this source of natu-
ral fertiliser rising to the surface, potentially leading to
a shortage of phytoplankton, which could disturb the
marine food chains in the long term.

What happens to an Argo floater at the end of life?
A floater arrives at the end of life when its batteries are
empty. In the middle of the Pacific or in Antarctica, we
cannot retrieve them. Five years after it is put into the
water, it falls to the bottom of the ocean. In the Mediter-
ranean, 30 to 40% of floaters are retrieved thanks to a
network of boats: we change the batteries, renew and
recalibrate the sensors and then put them back in the
water for a new cycle of measurements. Our Chinese
colleagues have also started to develop a partnership
with fishermen in the West Pacific in order to recycle
the instruments. It is clearly evident that we need to
minimise as far as possible the environmental impact
of our own observations, which are aimed at gaining a
better understanding for better protection. A system is
therefore being set up, initially at European level.

How long is this programme scheduled to last?
Ad vitam aeternam! It is observation of the future! The
aim of this programme is sustainability, thanks to the
platforms and technology that will develop over time.
Moreover, a new generation of BGC floater is currently
being developed: we will shortly be putting thirty floa-
ters equipped with on-board intelligence cameras,
capable of recognising groups of zooplankton and
transferring via satellite the results of these “in situ” fin-
dings. In the long run, One Argo will play an extremely
important role in characterising ocean biology.