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How yachts help sea life

Feeding time: Research is helping scientists monitor nature under the sea

By CNN's Liz George

LONDON, England -- Yachts in the Volvo Ocean Race are helping scientists piece together vital information about ocean life and the survival of species like dolphins and whales.

They are monitoring microscopic plant matter called phytoplankton, the bottom of the ocean's food chain. Like the rainforests, they are vital for the planet's atmosphere because they produce oxygen.

Dr. Simon Boxall, who works on the project, says: "We need to be able to measure where these phytoplankton are, what density they are.

"The rainforests are fairly straightforward because we have rainforests that will last hundreds or thousands of years so we can map them fairly easily.

"But in the ocean, phytoplankton patches last for two or three weeks, so we need ships and satellites."

Each of the Volvo yachts is equipped with lightweight instruments to measure the colour and temperature of the water. A black box acts as an onboard computer, gathering the results from the sensors, which are also embedded in the keel.

Once the black box has collected the data it puts it into a format that can be beamed back via satellite using the yachts' navigational transmission systems.

The data is sent to the project's headquarters at the Southampton Oceanography Centre on the south coast of England.

RESOURCES Learn more at the Southampton Oceanography Centre

Scientists analyse the information then, with help from the space agency NASA, translate it into coloured global charts and post it onto a Web site.

Wildlife experts have been drawn to the project. A plentiful food supply is vital to help increase the numbers of species, like Southern Right Whales that come to the deep bays around Cape Town to breed and rear their young.

Scientists are able link the data from the race yachts with sightings of whales and dolphins that the crews are recording as they make their way through some of world's most remote waters where most shipping freighters do not dare to go.

Dr. Andy Williams, who is working on the project, says: "Trying to get out there and do research on whales and dolphins is very expensive.

"So when the opportunity to have yachts travelling there and people to report back, and to have ocean colour data and sea surface temperature information was a unique opportunity that we couldn't miss."

Volvo has agreed to back the project until after the next Ocean Race in four years.